Sourdough using All Natural Levain 天然酵母麵包

Warm summer days are good for eating ice cream, right? Besides making lychee ice cream, I also make good use of warm room temperature to cultivating levain (levain is a French word derived from Latin, meaning to rise). Making a levain culture from scratch takes a lot of time, care, and patience. If you plan to go away on vacation for a few days, do not begin the culture. It takes 5 days for the culture to mature before it is ready to be used. Even though it sounds a long time, but it takes only a few minutes each day to feed and maintain it.

More Library Demonstrations 更多圖書館示範

Below is the list for the upcoming free library demonstrations:

2013:
Oct 24 Thursday 6:30 pm Walnut Library : Egg Tart 蛋撻

Nov 9 Saturday 2 pm Rosemead Library : Snowy Moon Cake 冰皮月餅

Dec 10 Tuesday 6:30 pm Walnut Library: Bo Law Bao/Pineapple Bun 菠蘿包

Dec 14 Saturday 1pm Willowbrook Library : Bo Law Bao and Egg Tart 菠蘿包及蛋撻

2014:
Jan 18 Saturday 2 pm El Monte Library : Bo Law Bao (encore !) 菠蘿包 (再來一次)

Jan 25 Saturday 2 pm Rosemead Library : Wife Cake 老婆餅

Feb 1 Saturday 2 pm Bell Gardens Library : Wife Cake 老婆餅

Feb 8 Saturday 2 pm Duarte Library : Wife Cake 老婆餅

June 25 Wednesday 6:30 pm Sunkist Library : Wife Cake 老婆餅

Come back often to check updates.

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。

Lychee Ice Cream 茘枝雪糕

There are so many summer fruits that are suitable for making desserts that I sometimes have a hard time deciding what to use... However, recently I came across frozen lychee puree in a restaurant supply store and could not resist buying some. Although it is quite expensive, this kind of ingredient is hard to find elsewhere.

Imported from France, the puree contains 91% lychee and 9% invert sugar. But what is invert sugar? Essentially it is table sugar sucrose (disaccharide) that has been heated with an acid, usually cream of tartar. It then breaks down into glucose and fructose (monosaccharide), which will remain in liquid form. Invert sugar is widely used in the world of bakery and confectionery. It improves texture and, as a natural preservative, helps to extend shelf life. It is great in making ice cream because it keeps crystallization under control and gives a smoother consistency. (Click here for more information)

Since lychee puree is low in pulp and high in water content, it needs to be cooked with the milk and cream for the extra water to evaporate. Otherwise, the ice cream will have an excess of ice crystals.

More Free Library Demonstrations to Come 更多免費示範

I have been invited to do a new cooking demonstration in some county public libraries, coming late Summer and early Fall and just in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Below is the schedule:

El Monte Library, 8/17/13 Saturday at 2pm: Snowy Moon Cakes

Hermosa Beach Library, 8/24/13 Saturday at 2pm: Bo Law Bao/Pineapple Buns AND Egg Tarts

Rowland Heights Library, 9/7/13 Saturday at 2pm: Snowy Moon Cakes

Walnut Library  10/24/13 Thursday at 6:30pm: Egg Tarts

Rosemead Library, 11/9/13 Saturday at 2pm: Snowy Moon Cakes

For those of you who may not be able to attend the free demos or would like to have more hands-on instruction, I also have small group classes. Click here for more details.


適逢中秋佳節,在這個人月兩團圓的日子,最好不過是親手做愛心又健康的冰皮月餅,無論送禮或自用都兩相宜。如有興趣, 機會來了:

免費冰皮月餅示範

8/17 星期六下午二時於El Monte Library艾蒙地市 圖書館

9/7星期六下午二時於Rowland Heights Library 羅蘭崗圖書館

11/9星期六下午二時於Rosemead Library 柔似蜜市圖書館

另外,如果你錯過了過往的菠蘿包或蛋撻示範:

8/24星期六下午二時於Hermosa Beach Library 會有菠蘿包及蛋撻兩樣示範

10/24/12 星期四晚六時半於 Walnut Library 核桃市 圖書館,蛋撻示範

如果你不能出席以上示範,又或者你喜歡小班及有實踐經驗之課程,請點擊這裏 。

Lavender Sponge Cake 薰衣草海綿蛋糕

"Back to the basics" is what I feel best to describe this sponge cake. As one of the most versatile cakes, it can be used as a base for many other forms of cake desserts, such as mousse cake.

I was inspired and challenged by a friend of mine who is very passionate in baking. Her persistent in doing it right set an example for me. In order to master a recipe, she sets a record of baking more than 10 cakes in a week.

Relatively speaking, I do not have much experience in making sponge cake with whole egg method and this may actually be my very first post on it. Whole egg whipping method with no other kind of leavening means whether the cake is successful or not solely depends on the stability of the egg foam. The air that gets trapped inside the egg foam expands in the oven and helps make the cake light and spongy. It is a bit more tricky making this cake than chiffon cake but the result is very rewarding!

In this recipe I used dry lavender instead of the more common vanilla extract to give it a different aroma. It gives the cake a very subtle scent.

Thin Crust Pizza 義大利薄餅

Learning is an endless pursuit. As I believed I have attained the basics of bread making, I found out that there is much more knowledge waiting for me to explore. Ken Forkish used the basic ingredients of bread as the title of his book: "Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast". He wrote that it is the manipulation of these simple ingredients that produces superb quality of bread or pizza. One of the keys is to use as little yeast as possible because too much will produce an off flavor. Another is to use low temperature to delay the rate of fermentation because it takes time for enzymatic reactions to take place. But your patience will be greatly rewarded because the product is more complex in flavor.  The pizza I made using this method proves that it is better than those from chain stores.

Pandan Chiffon Cake 班蘭雪紡蛋糕

Don't be mistaken by the color of this cake. It is not from artificial coloring. It is from the chlorophyll of pandan. Pandan leaves are very popular in South East Asia. They are widely used in making rice, main dishes and desserts. It is best to use fresh leaves but here in North America, we have to settle for frozen ones.

It takes a little bit of planning in making this pandan chiffon cake, unless you prefer to use artificial pandan flavoring or canned pandan juice because it takes a few days for the pandan juice to settle so that the bitter liquid will be separated from the flavorful juice. (If you have access to a centrifuge, it will take a few minutes rather than a few days.) See notes on how to make the juice.

The aroma of this cake is unbelievable. The scent of pandan is very unique. It has a nick name: "vanilla of the East". I didn't use any frosting or garnishes on this cake because I do not want anything to mask its aroma and flavor. It is very good by itself!

Cooking Classes Schedule Set 新班日期落實

This is the new class schedule for the Fall:

1)  Snowy Mooncake 冰皮月餅: August 31 Saturday (New fillings will be covered in this class, different from last year.)

2)  Chinese Pineapple Cake 鳳梨酥: Sept 21 Saturday

3)  Super Soft Pai Bao 超軟排包: Oct 5 Saturday

4)  Japanese Light Cheesecake 日式海綿芝士蛋糕: Oct 19 Saturday

All classes are on Saturday afternoon starting at 1:30. Some take about 2 hours and some may be longer. A mold for making mooncake and pineapple cake is included for these two classes. Class size is between 4-8. First come first serve. For questions and reservation, email me at phoebechow@morethanbread.net. Once I confirm your registration, I'll send you my address.

所有班都是在星期六下午一點半開始,為時二小時左右,有些班可能會長一點。冰皮月餅及鳳梨酥班包模具一個。每班四至八人,先到先得,如有問題或報名,請電郵致: phoebechow@morethanbread.net

Honeycomb Cake 蜂巢蛋糕

Do you believe looks are deceiving? I believe that we all have an experience of getting fooled by an object's appearance. Sometimes an unattractive look may hide something that is the opposite. It is so true to this cake. I did not find it very appealing at first sight, but as I cut across it and took a look, I was surprise to find the gem inside--a honeycomb-like appearance. The little holes are perfectly aligned to mimic the look of a honeycomb (just mimic, because a honeycomb is made up of hexagons, not circles).