Coffee Crème Caramel

While making this coffee crème caramel in my kitchen one afternoon, I overheard some screechy conversation and realised that I had some visitors out on the balcony.

They were pretty loud. And I gathered they might've been having a bit of a disagreement out there.

Maybe I could ameliorate this awkward situation by offering them some food? Afterall, I've been told that good food sometimes has the effect of lessening the severity of arguments! (And I'm guessing bad food would have the opposite effect.)

So what do birds eat? Seeds right?

I immediately went to the health food section of my pantry and brought some chia seeds out. Surely they will love this superfood as much as I do!

Ugh not really. They just looked at me as if I was sprinkling invisible food onto the ground. What are you, crazy? We want real food, they seem to be saying to me.

Okay, then how about my favourite snack - dried dates?

Yay, think we've got a winner here!

After these visitors filled themselves up, they flew away amicably as if they had no recollection of their previous tiff!

(They also showed me their appreciation by coming in to the apartment and leaving some poop on my carpet as I found out later on....)

Little did I know that I'd later run into this couple again days later...

This time, it was another nail-biting story which will have you at the edge of your seat. Ok, not really. But I can't wait to share about it in my next post because this post is getting a little bit too long and I'd like to talk about the delicious crème caramel now.

But here is a preview:

Who's going to win that piece of bread and who is going home hungry? Oh, the suspense!

Hint: Think David and Goliath!

Anyways, so I made this coffee crème caramel because:

1. I love eating it and it's been years since I last made it.

2. I was recently given a bag of freshly ground coffee which I have no use of (being a Nespresso person). So, why not cook with it? (You might be seeing a lot of caffeinated recipes coming up!)

3. I wanted to try steaming crème caramels (instead of baking them) because I know steaming is faster (well, you save the time pre-heating the oven + an extra 10 minutes cooking time!)

The result is a silky smooth crème caramel with a slightly bitter caramel sauce! Perfecto!

I couldn't wait until it chills in the fridge and ate them while they're still slightly warm and velvety soft! So addictive and delicious! Despite it was already late in the afternoon and the smallest amount of caffeine keeps me up all night, I 'uncontrollably' gobbled down more servings than I really should in one go.

Yes, totally worth it!

I hope you'll give this recipe a go. Chances are, you have all the ingredients right now in your kitchen.

And best of all, you don't even need an oven for this! 

Coffee Crème Caramel
Inspired by Cooking with Dog
Makes 4

You will need 4 pudding moulds/ramekins.

• Unsalted Butter (to rub the sides of your ramekins) 
• 4 tbsp Caster sugar
• 1 tbsp Water
• 1½~2 tbsp Hot water
• 2 Eggs
• 200ml Milk
• 50ml strong espresso coffee
• 3 tbsp Caster sugar

1. Place water in a heavy saucepan. Add 4 tbsp sugar, pouring into the centre of the water so it doesn't touch the edges. Cook over a medium heat for around 5-7 minutes. Do not stir. The caramel will slowly colour from blonde to brunette, to a dark, rich colour. Take off the heat immediately and add the 1-2 tbsp of hot water into the caramel (I added the water using a long ladle to prevent being burned by the sizzling hot caramel! Be careful here as it's extremely hot and bubbly!)

Pour into each of the 4 ramekins/pudding moulds.

2. Whisk eggs gently in a large bowl until mixture is slightly frothy. (We don't want too much froth here.)

3. Put milk and coffee into a saucepan and add the 3tbsp of sugar and cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir into egg mixture (do not over mix).

4. Pour this mixture through a sieve into a jug to pour into each of the 4 ramekins/moulds.

5. Cover the ramekins with aluminium foil. Place them in a large flat pan (I used a 29cm fry pan) with a piece of folded towel/cloth at the bottom (to prevent overheating the moulds). Fill half way up the sides of the ramekins with boiling water and cook for 18-20 minutes with the lid covering the pan. Cook on low heat (small boils - we don't want rapid boil as the custard will be overcooked and eggy!)

6. Check to see if the custard has set and then rest for ~15 mins before putting into the fridge to chill. Run a knife around the edges of the ramekins before turning out onto a dish.

Bible verse of the day...

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 

-Philippians 4:8

Have a blessed week ahead! :)

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Chocolate Banana Cake + Pumpkin Pudding with Cinnamon sauce

Life doesn't always turn out the way you plan (and I'm glad that is so!)

Because if that was the case, I'd be an airline stewardess now (perhaps en route to Paris right this moment?)

That was the plan at age five. You see, I met this stewardess on the plane and she was the nicest person in my young eyes.

No one had ever bent down to my height, looked me in the eyes and with sweetest smile said to me those 5 magic words...would you like some candies?

I thought she was an angel! (Obviously Mother never taught me about staying away from strangers with candies.)

Since then I've gone through many strange phases and never would I have ever imagined back then that I'd be doing what I am doing now. Never.

Anyways this amazing cake.... You are not meant to be seeing this chocolate banana cake on the screen right now. But it just happened.

This was meant to be a simple banana loaf...something that's very close to my heart. And something I had planned to bake to celebrate my new life in the new kitchen. The very first baked item chez moi in Melbourne.

But half way through the recipe 2 things happened:

#1 I realised I do not have a loaf pan. Only a cake tin.

#2 I couldn't stop thinking about the cocoa powder and dark chocolate chips from Koko Black I had purchased the previous day.

So this cake here happened as a result.

Even though this is a recipe for a loaf, but it worked out beautifully as a cake - moist, simple, and so satisfying at 11pm on a weeknight. I was worried about the chocolate over-powering the bananas but the flavours turned out quite balanced (even though the chocolate is still on a stronger side.)

Chocolate Banana Cake
Inspired by How to be a Domestic Goddess
Makes 8-10 slice

• 150g plain flour
• 25g cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 50g unsalted butter, melted
• 50ml grapeseed oil (or similar neutral cooking oil)
• 1/4 cup yoghurt (I used greek yoghurt)
• 150g sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 small, very ripe bananas (about 300g weighed without skin), mashed
• 100g dark chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas mark 3 and get started on the rest.

2. Put the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a medium-sized bowl and, using your hands or a wooden spoon, combine well.

3. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter, grapeseed oil, yoghurt and sugar and beat until blended. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the mashed bananas.

4. Then, with your wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, stirring well after each bit.

5. Scrape into the loaf tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 1-1 1/4 hours. When it's ready, an inserted toothpick or fine skewer should come out cleanish.

6. Leave in the tin on a rack to cool, and eat thickly or thinly sliced, as you prefer.

I should have been patient and bake this for another 15 minutes...you can see the bottom is still a bit on the gooey side.

Oh, and remember the pumpkin pudding recipe I promised a few posts back?

Sorry for the delay...but better late than never right? I hope you make this and enjoy it as much as I did. Puddings are great...I reckon the saying should be 'a pudding a day'. Not 'an apple a day'.

Pumpkin pudding with Cinnamon Sauce

• 300g Pumpkin
• 40g Sugar
• 1 cup Milk
• 1/2 cup Water
• 5g Gelatine powder

Sauce

• 1 stick cinnamon
• 2-3 tbsp brown sugar
• ~1 cup water

1. Soak the gelatine powder in 25mL of water until softened.

2. Remove the skin from the pumpkin and chop into bite-size.

3. In a pot over the stove, add water, milk, sugar and pumpkins. Cook until the pumpkins are soft.

4. Use a processor or blender, blend the pumpkin mixture until smooth.

5. Once the blended mixture is slightly cooled down, add the gelatine from step 1 above and combine until it is dissolved into the mixture.

6. Ladle the mixture into ramekins or pudding moulds and keep in fridge for at least 30 minutes until the pudding sets.

7. For the sauce, put the water, sugar and cinnamon stick in a small pot and bring to boil. Let it boil for a few minutes until the cinnamon flavour is infused into the liquid.

So tell me, what did you plan on becoming? I'm curious about how many people actually become what they had dreamed of.

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Your Place Or Mine? Book signing + Pumpkin Pudding with Cinnamon sauce

You know those movies which start at the peak of actions and have you at the edge of your seats...then all of a sudden they rewind back into the past where you discover all the incidents that lead to that present action-packed day?

Well here is mine:

So let's go back to last week and how it lead up to the above moment.

No no, let's go back to the day I was born and how I was born with good tastes in cups ;)

You see, I love collecting cups but every cup I've purchased and taken to work - it gets stolen.

Last week was no exception. I spent the weekend picking out a cup for my new job as I wanted something that I will be drinking out of to be pleasing to the eyes. Who doesn't?

Yesterday I naively took this new cup to work and I left it outside the bathroom for a brief 2 minutes and when I returned...it was gone! How can it be?

I walked around the office frantically looking for this new but lost friend.

I even sent out an e-mail to the entire office...something along the lines of:

...will the person who accidently borrowed my cup, please return it to me? I will buy (or make) you a cup of coffee if you return it safe (and preferably unused)...

No response with details of its mysterious disappearance.

There are times in a persons life where you just have to quickly accept the cold hard facts. They call it signs of a character...or something like that.

So today at lunch (I am getting somewhere with this story, truly!) I was on the way to buy a replacement cup. And I was intending on getting a realllly ugly one. You gotta learn your lessons right?

Walking past Target, there was a line of people each with this book: Your Place or Mine?

Book signing? I've never been to one before! Or maybe lately I've not liked a book enough to want to get it signed. All the authors I adore are no longer alive actually....

So I walked in and saw Gary and George! The MasterChef Australia judges! Pretty neat huh? They are exactly as how they're on TV - relaxed, down to earth and they joke around and interact with their fans with such ease!

I wasn't planning on getting the book initially, but when I flipped through it and saw recipes like 'Twice Baked Gruyere Souffle' and 'Carrot and Olive Caramel cake', I was sold. Plus I planned to get a cookbook anyways since I have none on my bookshelf since the move from Sydney. What perfect timing! Watch out for their recipes on this space in the near future!

When I was getting my book signed, I told Gary that I'm from Sydney and when George heard that, he gave me a disgusted look. He loves Sydney, that guy. I also told them that I'd like VIP treatments when I go visit their restaurants. I can't remember what they said in response. I think they said of course. We will see, won't we?

Anyways, it is an unfinished story with my cup. But what an serendipitous moment I had today! :)

I leave you with more pictures of my pumpkin pudding with cinnamon sauce in which I made recently.

It was so deliciously spicy and full of sugary pumpkin sweetness.

I will post up the recipe the next time.

For now, I need to go and make myself dinner...maybe something out of the book aye?

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Orange and Honey Pudding

I love the smell of

*freshly washed laundry
*popcorn-filled cinema
*freshly shampoo-ed hair
*a new book
*a good patisserie (with croissants) at 5am
*fresh cut grass
*leather seats in new cars
*seaweed at the beach
*fresh brewed coffee
*fireplace on a cold night
*damp smell after the rain
*freshly painted house
*something that brings back memories
*garlic stir-fry anything
*my fingers after i eat a juicy burger
*my kitchen when I bake banana bread
*newborn babies

I also like the smell of an orange when you cut into it.

This may (unconsciously of course) be the reason why so many oranges were unnecessarily used to make this pudding. I'm already a bit embarrassed sharing this.

You see, I've been a bit jet-lagged...

Gelatin were supposed to be softened with 40mL of water.

I read 400mL.

Oops. Take two (a day after as I needed to replenish my orange supplies).

Accidently warmed up my milk before I combined with the orange juice.

Don't ever do that. It curdled into the most horrible looking something that I hope you'll never see. 

I almost used another word for that something. 

Glad I didn't because it will ruin the appeal of the pudding.

Take three.

The smell of success!

Sometimes, it does take time just to do the simplest thing. But it's worth the effort.

Light and healthy...and took me straight back to childhood.

Orange and Honey Pudding

Ingredients

• 1 cup Freshly squeezed orange juice 
• 1 orange (flesh), chopped into cubes
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 cup milk - I've used full fat (alternatively, you can replace 1/4 cup of milk with cream)
• 8 grams gelatin powder

1. Add the gelatin powder to 40mL of water in a small bowl to soften.

2. In a pot, combine the milk with the orange juice and turn up the heat to cook (It is important that you combine the orange with the milk before heating up i.e. not warm up the milk first then add the juice).

3. Once the liquid is hot (not boiling), remove from stove and add in the softened gelatin from step 1 and honey. Stir to combine.

4. Sieve the liquid from the previous step.

5. Put the cut of orange flesh into your containers evenly, and pour in the liquid from the pot. Once cooled down, place into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

6. Once set, you can pour a small amount of orange juice on top of the containers as I have done.

So, what is your favourite smell?

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Apple crumble + butterscotch pudding

Some days, a simply humble apple crumble just isn't enough.

You can perhaps dress it up...how about with a scoop of vanilla icecream?

No? Still not fancy enough huh?

Okay, how about this...a nice dollop of butterscotch pudding?

Butterscotch pudding...so smooth

Perfect! *nods happily*

Exactly what I needed on a lazy day like this...

The butterscotch pudding is the first recipe I have used from the book Baked: New Frontiers in Baking which I purchased last year. The authors are the owners of the famous bakery 'Baked' in Brooklyn, NY and there are so many creative recipes in there that I will hopefully make my way through one day! This is not the complete recipe however, as the pudding is supposed to sit on top of a oat-based tart. I'm too lazy to deal with pastry today...

The recipe for the apple crumble can be found here.

Butterscotch Pudding
From Baked: New Frontiers of Baking

Note: I halved the ingredients below and omitted the whisky addition

• 6 large egg yolks
• ¾ cup granulated sugar (I halved the sugar...as always)
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• ½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter

- Put the egg yolks in a large heat proof bowl and set aside.

- In a small saucepan, combine the granulated sugar, and ¼ cup water and stir gently with a heatproof spatula. Brush down the sides of the pan to melt any loose sugar crystals. Cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved, then increase the heat to medium-high heat and cook until the mixture begins to turn dark amber color. Swirl the pan, if necessary, to create an even color, but do not stir. Remove from heat and use the heatproof spatula to stir in the cream. Pour the caramel into small bowl. Set aside.

- In another small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in the milk and whisk to combine.

- Add the seeds from the vanilla bean and the vanilla bean pod. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add the caramel. Whisk together until combined, then slowly pour one third of the mixture over the eggs, whisking continually. Keep whisking the egg mixture and add another third of the hot milk mixture. Transfer the egg mixture back to the saucepan with the milk minute and, whisking the whole time, bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 3-4 minutes, or until very thick and a bit darker in color.

-Remove from the heat and whisk vigorously for about 1 minute to cool the pudding slightly. Let the pudding sit for about 15 minutes.

- Now that the pudding has cooled a tad, add the butter.

- Chill the pudding in the fridge for an hour, to thicken it. (I omitted this step and used it on the apple crumble straight away).

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