Strawberry Gelato 士多啤梨雪糕

What is the difference between ice cream and gelato? I guess it depends on who you ask! For a kid, it makes no difference at all. In a hot summer day, who cares?

Orange Chiffon Cake 香橙雪紡蛋糕

Chiffon cake is an all American invention. An American sales person, not a cook or pastry chef, came up with this popular cake that made with oil instead of butter. This sponge cake is very light and airy and can be made in a lot of different flavors. This orange cake is one of them. The freshly squeezed orange juice, the zest and the orange liquor all contribute to its great refreshing taste.

French Vanilla Bean Ice Cream 雲呢哪籽雪糕

There are a few items that we never run out of in our household: flour, chocolate and ice cream. I make bread at least once a week so I have to make sure that I have fresh flour. For chocolate...it has a lot of uses. It can be eaten plainly as candy or to be used in making cakes or other desserts. And for ice cream, my freezer always has at least a carton or two in stock. I had tried making ice cream without a machine but the result was not very satisfactory. It had a lot of ice crystals. My kids complained that the ice cream was crunchy.

Homemade X. O. Sauce 自家製 X. O. 醬

It has been very scary to read the newspaper lately, especially the Chinese newspapers. It is even more disturbing to go to the grocery store. Many Chinese, including myself, have been avoiding buying processed food which has the "made in China" label. One alternative is to search for the equivalent which is made in Taiwan. But it seems that we are almost run out of alternatives.

Strawberry Mousse Cake 士多啤梨慕絲蛋糕

You can always tell summer is here when you enter a grocery market and see all the fruits with beautiful colors. And the smell of fresh berries are so attractive. We had mango madness not too long ago. Now it is strawberry's turn !! I started out with strawberry soufflé . And I've tried mango mousse cake , how about a strawberry mousse cake !!

Focaccia with Cherry Tomatoes and Rosemary 意大利麵包

This Italian flatbread is similar to pizza, except it doesn't have any sauce on top. I've tried making it before a few times and it came out well. Recently Los Angeles Times published a recipe by Nancy Silverton, owner of La Brea Bakery. It calls for baking the bread in a cake pan instead of a baking sheet.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (close to DoubleTree Hotel Recipe) 朱古力曲奇

Nothing is more simple to enjoy and make as cookies. Mix together flour, eggs, sugar and butter and after a short time in the oven, you have homemade cookies. If you like add-ons such as raisins, chocolate and nuts, feel free to add them. For a more healthy touch, put oatmeals, flaxseed or even whole wheat flour. Bake for a short time for chewy ones and longer if you like crunchy cookies. It's as simple as that.

But there is some thing that makes the cookies from Doubletree Hotel special.

Strawberry Soufflé 草莓梳乎厘



After making the mango soufflé successfully, I couldn't wait to try out some other flavors. Strawberries are one of my family's favorite fruits. By using fruits to make desserts, it is more refreshing and healthy. The recipe is basically the same as the mango soufflé. I pureed the strawberries in a blender and got rid of the seeds by straining it through a sieve, then proceeded with the rest of the recipe.

Croissant 牛角飽

It is a popular belief that consuming breads (especially those made from white flour), pastries and desserts will make you gain weight. These foods are loaded with carbohydrates (mainly starch and sugar. Fiber is also a type of carb.) and fats. Modern city dwellers "input" a lot but "output" only a little.

Chocolate Streusel Coffee Cake 朱古力咖啡蛋糕

It's called coffee cake but it does not have any coffee in it. But it gets the name, I think, mainly because it goes well with a cup of coffee for breakfast or any time of the day. I like the texture of this butter cake compared to sponge cake.