Chocolate Mousse Pie with Peanut Butter Fudge Sauce

It's momsie's birthday.

I'm lucky that way, mom's birthday is always close to Mother's day. Meaning, I get to save a hundred bucks more than you every year. (might be the reason for my "success").

I was stumped for this post, people. I have no clue how to write for my mom. Then, I thought of what I do best, baking.

When I think of my mom, I wouldn't think of a rainbow cake or a cheesecake, I wouldn't think of a 3-tier cake with lilies or daisies, I wouldn't think of a cake at all. A Pie. But no, not an apple pie. She's funkier. She's addictive, she keeps you on your toes. Then, just when you think you got her figured out, she splashes you with a layer of crazy.

This pie is amazing. The chocolate mousse is healthy and light but dark and bitter. Topped with a crazy chocolate peanut butter fudge sauce, enveloped by a flaky crispy crust. That's how she is, obviously amazing yet still holds surprises at every corner.

To Momsie: I love you the way I loved you 10 years ago. I thank you the way I've thanked God for you. I'd cry and grab your feet when you leave the way I did back then. Happy Birthday and may you grow younger this year the way you did last year.

New York Cheesecake with Strawberry Glaze

What is your favorite cake?!

One sunny afternoon, the Mr asked me, “do you know what’s my most favorite cake?” I yelled in pride because “Doh! Brownies!!” I knew I was right! I knew it!

I wasn’t.

“That’s a bar, not a cake.” He chose one moment to be picky and I must say, very well chosen!

(Rolls eyes) “What then?” already, I'm thinking it would be blueberry or chocolate.

Beep Boop! Wrong again. It’s well along the sides of strawberry, cheesecake and pie, or all the three in one! 

Anywho, the Mr loves cheesecakes but doesn’t like cheese. Smearing cheese on everything is “Eww”. As opposed to me, I want a cheese tower every occasion possible. Yes, a cheese tower. Ok, maybe just a cheese platter. (*hints)

So! I baked him a cheesecake. There’s no special occasion, yet no occasion more special than this. Simply thanking the man. Thank you, deer, so much for our similarities but... even more for our differences.

Pie Pops - Banana, Homemade Nutella and Blueberry.

We recognize people who are "alone" very easily, especially during Valentines Day. I'm one of those. Maybe I'm giving out obligatory chocolates, maybe I'm accompanied by other "alone" people but I've never officially given a special chocolate to a Valentine.  

So when I say "I hate Valentines Day", do NOT take my word for it. I mean, who doesn't love to make a big deal out of chocolate! I know I do (I'd make chocolate our currency if I can)!

    

Anywho, Valentines Day is another reason to show your love. It is another excuse to make a big deal out of surprises and romance. Another day to show your relationship off to everyone else...

That being said,

I hate Valentines Day.

This day of the year, cheesy lines aren't "gay", couples in a public lives in their own world, girls making duck faces are suddenly tolerable and chocolate stores turned evil.

Dear future me, go get a room.

For now, if it's a chance to bake, it is a chance I wouldn't miss. And since appearance is oh-so-important for today, let's try to make things look prettier and mini'er than I would prefer.

Banana Filling:

1 banana cut diagonally

a pinch of cinnamon

1. Mix the ingredients together.

Nutella Filling:

makes about 1 3/4 cup nutella spread.

2 cups shelled and skinned raw peanuts

1/2 cup of your darkest, richest unsweetened cocoa powder 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt plus additional to taste (I used an extra 1/8 teaspoon) 3 tablespoons peanut oil

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the peanuts evenly over a cookie sheet and roast until they darken, about 10 minutes, rattling them around a bit halfway through to they toast evenly.

2. Transfer the peanuts to a food processor and grind them for about 5 minutes. First they’ll become a paste then they’ll become more of a paste and finally, they’ll liquefy. Scrape down the sides as needed.

3. Add the cocoa, sugar, salt and two tablespoons of the oil to the food processor and continue to process until well blended, about 1 minute. 

4. Add the last tablespoon of oil if the consistency seems too thick.

Blueberry Filling:

• makes about 16 3-inch pie pops.
• 1/2 recipe puff pastry dough (recipe from: previous post)
• 1 1/4 cups blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 egg for egg wash

1. Mix all ingredients together. 

2. Prepare cut out doughs, push a skewer stick into one of the doughs.

3. Spoon sufficient filling onto the dough.

4. Seal with another dough piece. 

5. Using a fork or the skewer, push down the edges of dough.

6. Bake at 190 celsius for 20 minutes.

7. Brush egg wash sparingly on the crust.

8. Bake for another 20 minutes or until golden brown.

9. Do not move the skewer around while pie is still hot.

I used several different fillings. Because I'm not a big fan of Blueberry, they're too classy for me. I love chocolate and bananas. I'm like that. Onto what it tastes. They're pies! They're awesome pies on pops!

Happy Valentines,

Jes

Chicken Pot Pie with Homemade Puff Pastry

I remember the first time I've had Corica Apple Strudel. I've had just begun watching Jamie Oliver, barely starting out with french toasts and grilled prawns. I was 12, I had no oven, I had no cookbooks, I had no one to show me what baking is all about. 

However, the moment I ate that piece of Apple Strudel (along with other baked-goods such as, quiche lorraine, croissant, baguettes, brownies, etc), I've always had that one epiphany. I wanted to learn how to bake. I wanted to learn more about western baking. 

There are many many wonderful cakes from where I am in Indonesia. The richness of coconut milk, dark red sugar, thousands of herbs i can never remember and many more. However, I was never particularly interested in how they were made. 

Then, internet became available. I learn about puff, shortcrust, filo, choux. I was in my cadbury island. Unimaginable light came into my eyes. Finally, my birthday present of an oven arrived and soon enough, batches of cookies and snacks were produced, failed cakes and burnt smells too. 

That old piece of oven is still with me today. My source of relaxation, satisfaction and appreciation comes from this small piece of an oldie. And today, I have once again decided to encounter my fears and my To-do-list. Puff Pastry.

This pastry was harder on my mind than on the bench. Honestly, I wouldn't have worried as much. As long as you follow the steps. The recipe I've used is by Pastry chef online for it's detailed instructions and notes.

Notes:

1. The better the butter, the tastier and puffier the pastry will be. Look for a higher fat content.

2. It is easier to roll the dough and butter together when they have the same consistency. (Chill whichever is softer.)

3. Keep a fair amount of flour at arms reach while working on the bench. You need to constantly flour the surface and touch up on broken layers.

4. When cutting the dough, be sure to cut straight and minimize twisting. This will limit sticking of layers.

5. Chill cut piece in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking.

6. Placing a sheet of parchment paper on top of the pastry will give an even rise.

7. Be sparing with egg wash as it inhibits puffing by gluing layers together when it enters the cut sides.

8. Do not bake puff with an uncut edge. It would not puff up.

Puff Pastry

340 g all purpose flour

57 g cake flour

9 g salt

370 g unsalted butter

220 ml ice water

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours and the salt.  Dice 3 oz. (85 g) butter and toss in with the flour/salt mixture.  Refrigerate the rest of the butter. 

2. Rub the butter into the flour to look like a coarse meal. Add the water, a bit at a time, to form a sticky, rather "ugly" dough. 

3. Gather up the dough, flatten it into a vague rectangle, and wrap it in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for about an hour to give to completely hydrate the flour and to let the butter firm back up a bit.

4. Meanwhile, take out the rest 10 oz (300 g) of butter. Pound with a rolling pin to soften into a square shape about 5″ on a side and about 1/2″ thick.

5. Once the dough has been in the fridge for about an hour, check to see if the consistency of the butter and dough are similar (poke poke). 

6. Liberally flour your work surface and the dough, and roll to a square about 10″ on a side.  Now, roll each triangular corner of the square out into a thinner flap. You will then have a thicker diamond dough about 5-6″ on a side with thinner flaps. 

7. Brush the excess flour on the top of the dough off, and place the packet of butter in the center. Fold up one corner at a time to completely encase the butter in dough. Remember to brush off all the excess flour. If the dough is too soft by now, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes or so.

8. Flour your work surface again, and pound the dough with your rolling pin to flatten. Then, roll your dough into a rectangle about 16″X8″. Work with short strokes up and down the packet until things are nice and pliable. This will help keep your dough from ripping. If you do get a tear in your dough, patch it with some flour.

9. Fold the dough in thirds, like a business letter, being sure to brush off the excess flour. Keep the edges as square as possible. Repeat the rolling and folding a second time in the other direction. Wrap in plastic and mark a 2 finger indentation. Chill the twice turned dough into the fridge for an hour.

10. After an hour, take the dough out and give it two more turns. If at any time you feel the butter starting to slide around inside the dough, throw it back in the fridge. After the 2nd (4th) turn, wrap it up, mark 4 indentations and chill it in the fridge overnight.

11. The next day, take the dough and pound it with the rolling pin a few times, and give it two more turns.  Always keep the edges as square and even as possible, and always roll to a 16″x8″ rectangle. Roll to a finished thickness of 1/4″, and the dough is finally ready to be used.

12. For those who uses only half the dough, like me, freeze the rest of the dough in the frozen compartment. To use, thaw and roll out to 1/4". 

Chicken Pot Pie

• 1 boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
• 50 g butter
• 1 chopped onion
• Garlic
• 1/2 cup chopped coriander
• 2 boiled potatoes
• 1 corn
• 35 g all-purpose flour
• salt
• black pepper
• Oregano
• 1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and saute chicken, onion and garlic.
3. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and oregano. Slowly stir in milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Place the chicken mixture in ovenproof dish. Cover with top crust. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape. (Brush egg wash for golden brown effect (; )
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Puffed the puff, 

Jes

Portuguese Egg Tarts

Don't we always have a reason for choosing what we bake. Especially when your to-bake-list is growing to be as tall as you are. I find myself wanting to bake brownies when I'm feeling down, lemon meringue pies when I'm busy at work, cookies when I'm hungry at work, Hamburgers...possibly any time of the week. Then, there are the miscellaneous items. This one goes to Mr Kelvin. I'm honestly just trying to be funny. At the same time, "Dem! those pictures made me crave for egg tarts!"

Let's cut to the chase. Portuguese egg tarts! I would never have known if it weren't for Auto-correct (Thank you, Steve Jobs) that I have been misspelling Portuguese. First, I must say, I didn't use puff pastry. I used the flaky pastry recipe from this post. Reason: I am not confident enough to make myself some puff, plus, this flaky crust isn't that far apart (aside from the 50+ less layers of happiness).

Second, this egg tart filling recipe is not my own recipe. I found it in a mysteriously secluded website around 3 years ago, when copyrights didn't cost you millions of greens. Unfortunately, the only thing i could remember was that it had an all pink background. However, do not get worked up about it, the recipe  does not differ much from other recipes. You see, custards/ Egg yolk + milk + sugar is bound to taste awesome! 

Lastly, I've baked this a few times too many. However, I've always used a ready-made puff pastry. Hence, for those of you who need to whip up anything quick and impressive, this one goes to you. Remember, the excess egg whites could easily be stored to be used for other cakes such as "Angel food cake, White Eggs cake, Buttercream, etc etc". And if you have extra shells, this is one awesome way to add another dessert to the menu.

Flaky (Almost like Puff Pastry) Apple Pies

After various mishaps in the past, from deep within my stomach, i remind myself "people exaggerate". The most delicious steak is not the "most" delicious steak. The tastiest soup are probably too tasty for human beings. And the most buttery cake would probably be butter itself with a tablespoon of flour. So, as i search for THAT "best apple pie" recipe once again, I had to admit, I was full of doubt and distrust.

I google'd "Flaky pie crust recipe" and when the results popped up, my mind was chanting "people exaggerate, people exaggerate, people exaggerate". I was proven wrong. Aside from the 5% reviews commenting on the difficulty of working with the dough, everyone else described it as the perfect flaky pie crust. The pictures, unfortunately, weren't convincing. I choose to group myself with the unfortunate 5%, and put the recipe aside. 

Boom ba da Boom. Look at how each piece of the crust separates itself from the other? That's "flaky". So, you ask, which recipe did you end up using? Moving on from that recipe, I went on to search more "pie crust" tips. I ended up clicking to my all time favourite food blogger, Smitten Kitchen's Pie Crust Tips and remember her cute little apple pie cookies? Coincidentally, that was the same pie crust recipe!

Quiche Frenzy - Traditional Quiche Lorraine. Spinach & Brie, Potato crisp quiche. Chicken breast & mimolette quiche. Self-saucing Chocolate Rum cake quiche.

The results for the rainbow cake was shocking. All of a sudden, friends and family no longer looked at me as the kid playing with play-doh. In layman's term, the rainbow cake was served to test and nobody's dead (except for Steve Jobs, may he rest in peace).

So, this week I promised to bake something savory. I'm never good at this. After-all, the food I like to eat are limited to warm and cold salads, occasional chunk of steak, ocassional burger fetish, sandwiches, eggs, cheese, soups and traditional Indonesian dishes that uses at least 10 different spices that i hardly can translate to English.

My friends often ask, how can I be a "chef" or "baker" if I don't eat. I'm not picky with food, i hardly hate any specific ingredients except eggplants and olives, I just do not have the stomach. I love cakes. I love them to death! However, I don't mind eating a bad cake (over and over), I'm easily impressed over simple presentation or just melted chocolate. I do have a few comments for cake stores who act all high-and-mighty but have bad cakes, yet, I do not have my set of passion to finding the best cake in town.

Atmosphere. Atmosphere is utmost importance to me. Even if the cakes were meh-ok, even if drinks are a little overcharged. That traditional overly midget wooden coffee table, sofas that do not have matching colors, songs played in an acceptable volume and people who serves cheerily. I want that. I want to open that. That's how I got to this quiche.