French King Cake

Few years back, my bf went to France and fall in love with their French King Cake. Not sure why, he suddenly have a craving for it. So his gf has to make his craving come true. I was googling for the recipe of the cake. But most of them needs Frangipane, I guess is one type of almond filling. I don't seem to find it at NTUC. Being his resourceful gf, I have to find an alternative. After searching for awhile, I found a recipe for almond filling. Not so sure whether does it taste like Frangipane, but I guess it won't be too off.

 

The recipe for the almond filling is quite simple. All you needs is almond, sugar, butter, egg whites and almond extract. Mixed them together using the food processor, and you will get the almond filling. For more details, you can visit it at Simply So Good. After I prepared the almond filling, I put it in the refrigerator.

 

I bought the ready-made puff pastry from NTUC and now is the time for my bf to perform *haha* He rolls the dough & put it on the pie plate. I spread the paste on the pastry while he continue to roll for the cover of the cake. After putting on the 'cover', I beat an egg and spread it around the cake. My bf slightly slit crisscross on the cake and put 4 small venting holes. Last step will be putting into the oven.

 

After 15mins, I took the cake out and sprinkle some icing sugars on the cake and put it back to the oven for another 10mins. *Tadah* Below is the end product. Though my bf said that there is still difference in the taste as compared to the French King Cake he ate in French. But the taste is similar. Our next project will be trying to improvise our French King Cake. His sister is coming back from France and she will brings Frangipane with her. I guess my bf will be waiting for our next attempt.

Lemon cheese cupcake

After months of hinting from my bf, I decided to bake his favourite lemon cheese cupcakes for him. The last time I baked this for me would be around May I guess. I don't really enjoy baking this is not because it is not delicious, but the home-made lemon curd need me to stand at the stove 30mins! I need to slowly stir the lemon curd on low fire to finally get the thickness I want.

 

You could also buy lemon curd from Cold Storage if you want to save the trouble. But the home-made lemon curd would be freshier and tastier. Hence my bf & colleagues loves it so much.

 

 

 

 

Recipe taken from www.joyofbaking.com/LemonCheesecakes.html

Fermented squid

after waiting for 1 month, finally able to make my fermented squid

*yummy yummy* 

one jar especially for my mummy as she loves seafood too!

Ingredients:
Small squid (fresh or frozen) 1 pound 10 oz (750 grams), 5 Tbs salt, fish sauce, hot pepper flakes, green chili pepper, red chili pepper, ginger, garlic, sesame seeds, sesame oil, mulyeot (either corn syrup or rice syrup)
Directions:

1. If you buy frozen small squids, thaw them out in the refrigerator.
2. Clean the squid:
   • Slice right below the triangle of the torso and cut crosswise.
   • Then put your knife right below eyes,  cut crosswise, and discard the eye part.
   • Slit the torso open lengthwise and remove the innards and the plastic looking bone.
   • Put the cleaned squid flesh into a bowl.
   • Repeat this until all squids are cleaned.
3. Scrub the squid to remove some any bubbles or foam.
4. Rinse the squid in cold water a couple of times and drain it.
5. Mix 1 pound 10 oz (750 grams) of squid with ¼ cup salt. Put it into a glass jar and sprinkle another 1 tbs salt on top (total 5 tbs).
   *tip: For about 150 grams (5 ounces) of squid you’ll need to use 1 tbs kosher salt (or plain salt)
6. Press it down to minimize exposure to the air. Close the lid and keep it in the refrigerator for 1 month.
7. 1 month later, wash, rinse, and strain the fermented squid.
8. Make seasoning paste. In a large bowl mix:
   • ½ cup hot pepper flakes
   • ½ cup corn syrup (or rice syrup)
   • 1 tbs fish sauce
   • 2 chopped green onions
   • 5 cloves of chopped or sliced garlic
   • 1 tbs chopped ginger
   • 2 chopped green chili peppers
   • 2 chopped red chili peppers
   • 2 tbs roasted sesame seeds
   • 1 tbs sesame oil
9. Dry the squid with a cotton cloth or paper towels.
10. Chop the squid into small pieces and put them into the red paste and mix well.
11. Transfer it into a container or jar and keep it in the refrigerator.

P.S: More detail with photo & video recipe, please visit http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/ojingeojeot