Easy Handmade Strawberry red bean Mochi

Ingredients:

• 1 cup glutinous rice flour
  
• 1 cup water
• icing sugar (to taste)
  
• 1/2 cup cornstarch for dusting

• Fresh strawberries (a handful, or a punnet if you want extras to nibble on)
• 1 packet of premade red bead paste (from Asian Grocery stores, this will be more than you u can use)
  

Instructions:

1. Sift the icing sugar into the rice flour and mix with the water into a microwave safe bowl.
2. Nuke the sucker for a minute at a time and stir it between nuking sessions
3. Once in come out of the microwave, it will be really hot. Be Careful! Prepare a plate or space for the bit. Dust the work area with the cornstarch as well as your hands. Spoon out about a tablespoon of the sticky dough and dust it. You'll need to kind of stretch the dough gently into a round disc.
4. Dollop a small amount of red bean paste onto the centre and put a strawberry tip first into the red bean.
   
5. Pull and stretch gently the dough to cover the strawberry. Dust some more and place onto a plate.
6. And Voila!

Note: For a plain red bean mochi, the red bean is normally a bit tooooo soft to play with. It'll be better to chill a slab in the freezer and then cut them into bite size chunks and then wrap in the warm sticky glutinousy goodness.

Black Forest Gateau

My 2nd attempt at a black forest cake from Masterchef Australia.
Nevermind that mine has less layers than it was supposed to.... it was still ridiculously rich and delicious~! Notice the heart in the middle ^_~

Ingredients

For the chocolate sponge
7 eggs
250g caster sugar
200g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the candied cherries
½ cup semi-candied pitted cherries, ¼ cup juice reserved
¼ cup caster sugar

For the cherry compote
1/3 cup caster sugar
600g pitted fresh cherries, halved
1 tbs brandy

For the cherry sugar syrup
90g caster sugar
¼ cup cherry juice

Method

1. For the chocolate sponge, preheat oven to 160°C fan forced. Grease and line 2 x 20cm springform cake pans.

2. Add eggs and sugar to a heatproof bowl of an electric mixer, and set over a saucepan of simmering water over very low heat. Whisk the mixture until 37°C. Remove the bowl from the heat and beat with an electric mixer on a medium-low speed for 5-8 minutes or until the mixture has cooled and thickened to a mousse-like consistency. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together twice. Using a large metal spoon, fold the dry mixture into the egg mixture in 3 batches until combined, adding the vanilla extract with the first dry batch.

3. Pour the mixture into the lined cake pans and smooth surface. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until sponge springs back when lightly touched. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto wire racks. Place in the blast chiller for 10-15 minutes until cake has cooled completely.

4. For the candied cherries, preheat oven to 120°C. Place cherries on a lined baking tray. Lightly dust with the sugar and place in the oven for 50-60 minutes. Remove and cool. Coat with remaining sugar. Set aside.

5. For the cherry compote, add the sugar to a non-stick saucepan and place over medium heat. Once the sugar begins to dissolve add the cherries and cook until they start to release their juices. Add the brandy and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the liquid has reduced and thickened. Strain, reserving liquor.

6. For the cherry syrup, heat 170ml water and the sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the reserved cherry juice and compote liquor. Allow to cool.

7. For the chocolate hazelnut praline mousse, line a baking sheet. In a dry heavy-based saucepan, cook sugar over medium heat, stirring, until melted. Once melted, cook without stirring, swirling pan, until lightly golden. Add hazelnuts, stirring until well coated. Immediately pour mixture onto the baking sheet and cool completely, in blast chiller for 5 minutes. Break praline into pieces. Place into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Set aside.

8. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk the egg yolks in a small heatproof bowl. Heat 250ml of the cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir through half of the hot cream into the egg yolks. Return the mixture to the saucepan over low heat and stir until thickened. Strain into a clean bowl. Stir the melted chocolate into the hot custard. Add the vanilla and allow to cool. Whisk the remaining cream until stiff peaks form. Fold into the chocolate mixture with the praline, until just combined. Set aside.

9. For the mascarpone cream, beat the mascarpone, vanilla and sugar in a bowl until smooth and slightly thicker in volume.

10. For the chocolate ganache, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Set aside. Bring the cream to just below boiling point in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat, then add the melted chocolate and stir until smooth. Allow to cool until thick but still pouring consistency.

11. To assemble the cake, slice both cakes into thirds. Place the base of 1 cake onto a serving plate and brush with some of the cherry syrup. Spread over half of the chocolate praline mousse.

12. Place the next layer of cake onto a board, and brush with cherry syrup. Spread over half of the mascarpone cream. Divide the cherries into two parts for two separate layers. Place cherries around the border of the cake, 5mm from its edge and scatter remaining in the middle. Carefully remove layer from the board and place on top of the first layer. Repeat each layering process on the board (you will have 1 spare slice of cake), starting with the praline mousse and ending with the cherries on the mascarpone cream.

13. Place the final layer of the cake on a wire rack sitting over a baking tray. Evenly pour the ganache over the cake, ensuring it is completely coated. When the ganache has set, place on top of the layered cake. Decorate with shaved chocolate, fresh cherries and candied cherries.

For the chocolate hazelnut praline mousse
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup hazelnuts, toasted lightly and skinned
300g chopped dark chocolate
3 egg yolks
300ml thickened cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the mascarpone cream
500g mascarpone
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 tbs icing sugar

For the dark chocolate ganache
150ml cream
200g chopped dark chocolate

shaved chocolate
fresh cherries

2012 Already~

Happy New Year~!
I can't believe I am already into the 2nd month of 2012...
And I cannot believe that this blog was stagnant for a whole year... well, I could, there was so much to deal with in terms of... well .. life.
This year, I hope to start afresh... without actually starting a new blog. However, I hope that rather than just food, it will also be about my other creative (and not-so-creative) endeavors.

So, Let me start off today with the weapon of choice - A camera.
I love Re-ment miniatures and I love Fairyland's Pukipukis.
This was taken for a Ball-Jointed Doll photography competition.
I realise now, I do not have much spare room in my bedroom to even set up a doll sized room, let alone a doll house...so I borrowed my sister's desk. So miniature cakes, mini handmade bunting, handmade stars, fabric, ribbon, boxes and a glass candle holder later, voila!
There was much more elements to the whole scene, but I found it difficult to capture.
There was also some shaving cream involved as I had always wanted to do a cake face shoot, I am a bit weary of what I put on my dolls as oils and chemicals may affect their resin. I am not certain if this achieved my idea of an over-indulgent-love-of-cake scene, but it is so bright and colourful, I like it.