Easy Tiramisu 简易提拉米苏

Tiramisu- an easy to prepare popular Italian dessert  adopted from Gordon Ramsay's recipe. I omitted the alcohol as I don't quite like the taste. 

On the whole, the flavour was not being affected.

Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 tsp instant coffee powder

2 tbsp hot water

120g iced water

250g mascarpone cheese

2 tsp vanilla extract

150g whipping cream

4 tbsp icing sugar

10 sponge fingers

Frozen unsweetened baking chocolate 

Directions

1. Keep the mixing bowls, whisks and a damp cloth in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

Using cold utensil will facilitate the whipping of cream and cheese in our hot tropical weather.

2. Mix instant coffee powder with hot water till the coffee granules dissolved. 

Top up about 120g of iced cold water till the mixture reaches 150g. Place the coffee solution in the fridge.

3. Whisk mascarpone cheese with 50g cold coffee solution and vanilla extract till smooth and creamy.

Keep the mascarpone cheese mixture in the fridge.

4. Take out the cold equipment from the freezer. Pour whipping cream and icing sugar into the cold mixing bowl standing on the cold damp kitchen cloth. 

5. Fix the cool whisks to the hand mixer and start whipping the cream at high speed for about 2.5 to 3 minutes.

Do not over whip the cream to prevent it from segregating into butter and water.

6. Fold the whipped cream to the mascarpone cheese mixture. Mix them into a smooth mixture.

Keep the mixture in the fridge while you are preparing the sponge fingers.

7. Pour the remaining cold coffee solution into a shallow dish. Roll the sponge fingers in the coffee solution to partially soak up the liquid. Only coat the outer ring of the sponge fingers leaving the centre dry.

Do not soak the entire sponge 

8. Place the coffee sponge fingers into the cups. Break the sponge fingers into halves, if they are too long.

9. Pour the mascarpone cheese mixture onto the sponge fingers. Tap lightly to let the mascarpone cheese penetrate through the sponge fingers.

10. Sprinkle the grated frozen baking chocolate over the top. Seal the cups with food wrap and keep in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

11. Enjoy :)

Recipe adapted from the renowned chef Gordon Ramsay's recipe 

http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/2083/easy-tiramisu

with appreciation :)

Rice Cooker Sticky Ribs 电饭锅蜜汁排骨

 

After 2 hours of simmering and less than 5 minutes of thickening the sauce, yielded 8 succulent and fall-off-the-bone ribs. All these are easily prepared using the "soup" and "stream" functions of a rice cooker.

I have tried using oven to prepare the dish, despite the long hours of baking, the meat was not as soft and juicy like the rice cooker ones ^^

Serving: 4 persons

Ingredients

8 prime/baby back ribs, about 600~650g

   小排骨

Marinades*

1/4 yellow onion, julienned 黄大葱

1 clove garlic, smash and keep the skin on 蒜头，带皮拍扁

1 tbsp hoisin sauce 海鲜酱

1 tbsp oyster sauce 蚝油

1 tbsp rice wine 花雕酒

1 tbsp sweet chili sauce 甜辣椒酱

1 tbsp honey 蜂蜜

1 tsp sesame oil 芝麻油

1/4 tsp dark soya sauce 黑酱油

1/4 tsp fish sauce, optional 鱼露

2 tbsp dark brown sugar 黑糖

1 tbsp raw sugar 黄砂糖

1/4 tsp salt 盐

1 tsp fried shallot 葱头酥

80ml water 水

Glazing

1~2 tbsp honey 蜂蜜

Garnishing

Sliced Kyuri 日本黄瓜

Lime/lemon juice 酸柑/柠檬汁

* Quantity of marinating ingredients may adjust according to your preference.

Direction

1. Rinse and dry prime/baby ribs. Place the ribs in a big mixing bowl.

2. Add the marinades to the ribs and mix well.

3. Seal the the marinated ribs with food wrap or lid. Place the ribs in the fridge to marinate overnight or for at least 6 hours.

4. Allow the marinated ribs to return to room temperature before cooking.

5. Pour the ribs and the marinade into the inner pot of the rice cooker.

Select the "soup" program and set the cooking time as 2:00 h. Start the programs.

6. To ensure even heating, flip the ribs once every 20 minutes.

7. When the "soup" program is over, transfer the ribs to a bowl and cover them with a sheet of food wrap or a lid.

8. To remove the layer of oil accumulated at the surface of the gravy, soak it up using 1 to 2 sheets of scum absorbent sheet.

9. Select "steam" function and set the cooking time as 5 minutes, and start the program. Leave the rice cooker lid open, as the high heat of the "stream" function would facilitate the drying or thickening process of the gravy.

Stir regularly 

Stop the "steam" function, when the sauce has thickened considerably. Prolong heating will harden and dry up the sauce.

10. Add in 1 to 2 tbsp of honey to the thickened gravy. This will help to add glaze to the ribs later.

11. Return the ribs to the rice cooker to coat them with the sauce

12. Drizzle a little lime juice on the ribs just before serving.

Cleaning the pot

1. First use paper towel to wipe away the remaining sauce

2. Pour about 50ml of hot water into the pot and close the lid. Switch on the "keep warm" mode for 5 minutes, then allow the hot water to sit in the pot for about 15 minutes.

3. Pour away the hot water and start cleaning the pot as usual. The pot will be as clean as before.

Steamed Sweet Corn Cake 蒸玉米蛋糕

  

 

 A light and mild steamed cake with blended sweet corn. In my next attempt, I may increase the proportion of sweet corn to give the cake a more distinct taste of the sweet corn ^^

Yield: One 14cm round cake 圆型蛋糕

Ingredients:

All ingredients in room temperature 

70g top/cake flour
1/4 tsp baking powder 

40g milk70g top flour

1/4 tsp baking powder 

20g steamed corn

15g condensed milk
10g vegetable oil*

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs, separated
60g fine sugar

* Avoid using olive and peanut oil which has a stronger scent.

材料

2粒 蛋，蛋白蛋黄分开

60ｇ 细糖

40ｇ牛奶

20g 熟玉米粒

15ｇ炼奶

10ｇ食油*

70ｇ低筋面粉

1／4小匙 泡打粉

*避免用橄榄和花生油这类带有较重味道的油

Directions:

1. Line a 14cm cake tin with parchment paper. Set aside.

把一个14cm圆蛋糕模铺上防沾纸。

2. Mix top/cake flour with baking powder using a hand whisk.

用打蛋器将面粉和泡打粉搅匀。

3. Blend milk with steamed corn kernels using a food processor or blender. Then add in condensed milk, oil and vanilla extract. Set aside.

将牛奶和熟玉米粒放进搅拌机搅碎。再加入炼奶、油和香草精。

4. Beat egg whites in a clean and grease free mixing bowl at medium high speed using an electric mixer till frothy. This takes about 1/2 to 1 minute.

把蛋白打进一个干净无油的钢盆，先以中高速打发，大概1分钟。

5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add in the sugar in three lots. When the sugar is well incorporated to the batter, adjust the mixer speed to medium high, and beat the egg white batter for about 1 to 2 minutes, or till firm peaks formed.

调低速度再分3次加入糖。当糖完全与蛋白混均后，将打蛋器速度升回中高速，打大概1到2分钟，直至接近干性发泡。

6. Add in egg yolks, one at a time, to the egg white batter and mix well.

逐一将蛋黄加入，把蛋糊混均。

7. Start to preheat the water in a steamer.

开始烧热蒸笼里的水。

8. Add in 1/3 of the flour mixture, one third at a time, to the batter using the whisks removed from the electric mixer. 

Stir the batter in clockwise and anti clockwise direction alternatively, to prevent build up of gluten which will result in a harder cake.

Stop mixing once no flour can be seen. 

分三次筛入粉料（2）,先筛入À1/3的粉料并混均。可用从电动搅拌器摘下的搅拌棒，以顺时钟逆时钟方向，将面粉混均。避免过度搅拌，以致影响口感。

Stirring clockwise顺时钟搅拌

Stirring anti clockwise逆时钟搅拌

9. Pour in 1/2 of the corn milk mixture from (3), mix using the whisks.

Similarly, try to mix the batter with minimum mixing time.

将（3）的1/2份玉米牛奶混合物，加入。

Add in the remaining flour and corn milk mixture in an alternating sequence.

10. Finally, use a spatula to scrap the side and bottom of the mixing bowl to ensure no unmixed corn milk and flour is settle below.

最后，用刮刀将钢盆边缘和底部的蛋糕糊刮起，避免有沉淀的玉米牛奶或面粉。

11. Pour the batter into the cake tin. Lightly tap the cake tin to get rid of trapped air.

把蛋糕糊倒入蛋糕模中，再轻敲蛋糕模以震掉小汽泡。

12. Place the cake tin into the steamer and set the timer to 20 minutes.

把蛋糕糊放入蒸笼中。设定蒸煮为20分钟，直至蛋糕熟透。

13. Insert a cake tester into the centre to test whether the cake is thoroughly cooked.

用竹签测试蛋糕熟透度。

14. Transfer the cake with the tin to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes.

蛋糕熟后，移到架上降温。五分钟后才脱模。

15. Remove the tin and allow the cake to cool to room temperature.

让蛋糕温度降至室温。

16. Cut and serve :)

切片享用 :)