Today I found out an old friend from high school has passed away.. R.I.P. Tshing Loong.. I remember you as the funny, friendly boy who sat beside me in class and used to tease me endlessly.. I have to admit I had a little crush on you back then.. Can't believe it has been 9 years..It's hard to believe you are gone.. My only regret is that we did not keep in touch all these years, but I know you are in a place of peace and joy now.. You will be remembered always..

=D

My first attempt at scripting, voicing and editing an entire news clip! =)(Clicking the pic leads you to the link at C9 =))

One of the things I have been up to...

A news collage I made for the TV station I intern at, called The Week That Was =)

PS: Picture opens the video at their website!

Peach Banana Tofu Pudding!

I'm going through a tofu phase. Bear with me =P

Came up with this dessert today because I was craving peaches. The outcome was pretty delicious. Because of the natural sweetness of the banana, this dessert does not need any extra sweetener at all.

Ingredients

1 package of soft tofu (I used Morinaga, and one pack is 290g)

1 medium sized banana

1 can of peaches (in juice)

Optional: Vanilla extract (few drops)

Blend the tofu, then throw in the can of peaches and the banana. Add vanilla extract if desired. Refrigerate for about an hour before serving. Garnish with extra peach slices if you want, then nom!
Make sure you use soft tofu or else all you'll get is a grainy lump of shit. Yeap, I found out the hard way that firm tofu is better off in stir fries!

Go ahead, make yourself this healthy, easy, feel-good dessert!

My first attempt at fondant and a book review!

Here are the products of my first attempt at fondant. What do you think? =) They're not perfect but not bad for a first try, right? Managed to do this thanks to this book! Planet Cake Cupcakes by Paris Cutler.
This little tiger is my first completed cupcake and also my favourite! =) I love his cute curly hair and more tanned skin.
I've been wanting to try fondant for a while but it always seemed like the same results were unachievable. After shopping around and reading reviews I finally decided to get this book.

It's easy to read and loaded with detailed instructions and illustration. In Planet Cake Cupcakes you will be taught how to make the ganache, syrup, colour fondant, shape them. It also shows you what you need to prepare in advance. It definitely equips you with all you need to make adorable fondant cupcakes!
If you are keen to buy this book or any other book online, I recommend book depository, it's way cheaper that if you went to bookstores and come well packaged =) Here's the link!

Swedish Meatballs

Why don't they have Ikea in New Zealand? I remember that Ally, Sam, Shiela and I used to meet up there in Malaysia and we used to wolf down so many of their Swedish meatballs because they were sooo good! When I found this recipe, it felt like I had struck a gold mine! It taste similar but better =)

Here is the recipe from Simply Recipes

INGREDIENTS

Meatballs:
1 large yellow or white onion, peeled, grated (through a cheese grater)
2 Tbsp butter
2/3 cup milk
4-5 slices of bread, crusts removed, bread cut into pieces
2 eggs
1 pound ground pork
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 teaspoons black pepper
Sauce:
6 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup flour
1 quart beef stock
1/2 to 3/4 cup sour cream
Salt
2 to 4 Tbsp of Lingonberry, cranberry, red currant or raspberry jelly, more or less to taste (optional)

METHOD
1 Sauté the grated onion in the butter over medium-high heat until the onions soften and turn translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
2 In a medium bowl, mix the bread pieces with the milk. Set aside for 15-20 minutes, or until the bread soaks up all the milk. When it does, pulverize the bread in a food processor and pour it into a large bowl.
3 Add the cooled onions to the bowl of milk and bread. Add the rest of the meatball ingredients—eggs, ground pork, ground beef, salt, nutmeg, cardamom, pepper. Using your (clean) hands, mix well for about 2 minutes until the ingredients are well combined.
4 Use a tablespoon to measure out the meat for the meatballs. As you form the meatballs, set each one aside on a sheet pan or plate. You should get 40 to 50 meatballs.
5 Heat 6 tablespoons of butter for the sauce in a large sauté pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted, reduce the heat to medium and add some of the meatballs. Do not crowd the pan. Work in batches, browning them slowly on all sides. Be gentle when you turn them so they don't break apart. Do not cook the meatballs all the way through, only brown them at this stage. Once browned, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the pan, setting them aside so you can make the sauce with the remaining pan butter.
6 Start the sauce. (Check the pan butter to see if it has burned. If the butter tastes burnt, discard the butter and replace with new 6 tablespoons.) Heat the pan butter on medium until hot. Slowly whisk in the flour. Stirring often, let the flour cook until it is the color of coffee-with-cream; this is a classic roux.
7 As the roux is cooking, heat the beef stock in another pot until it simmers. When the roux has cooked until the color of coffee-with-cream, slowly add the hot beef stock a little at a time. Everything will sputter at first, and the sauce will seize up and solidify. Keep stirring and adding stock slowly, and it will loosen up and become silky.
8 Add the meatballs to the sauce and turn the heat down to low. Cover the pot and cook on low heat for 10 minutes. You might need to do this in batches.
9 To finish, move the meatballs to a serving dish. Add the sour cream and mix well. Either add the lingonberry jelly to the sauce or serve it on the side.

"Wow, you look great now! Very beautiful! Last time, I'm sorry to say, but you were a bit fat."

Lol. Sounds like an insult and a compliment rolled into one. Btw, I don't think I lost a lot of weight, especially with the mountain of food I have been eating!

Chinese Dumpling Soup

When I told John I was making Chinese dumplings for lunch, he said "You're being really adventurous!" This resulted in a 5 second stare and me asking him why. "Because Chinese dumplings take some skill to make!"

What? I didn't know that! My next 10 minutes was spent trawling the web for tips on how to fold these damn dumplings. After reading many useful entries, I realised that the key was to fold them so that no air bubbles get trapped inside. Why? Because they will explodeeeeeeee!

My first batch turned out like morbidly obese mutant goldfish swimming around in a boiling pool of water. Thank God I did a test batch. I quickly did the rest of my dumplings, making sure not a single one had air trapped in them, and into the pot they went!

And as Borat would say... Great success! I felt that the recipe called for too much pepper so I cut it down, also I did not add prawns as I am a poor student =P

Here is the recipe if you would like to try it, I modified it and have put them in brackets on the side.

Dumpling Ingredients:

• 150gm Chicken fillets, minced (Used about 400g of chicken!)


• 300gm Prawns, removed shell & vein, minced (Omitted this) (Omitt


• 3 pcs Water Chestnut, chopped


• Handful of Spinach, chopped (Used way more!) (Used quite a big more because we love our greens =) (

Marinade:

• 5 tbsp Light soya sauce


• 1 tsp Sesame oil


• 2 tsp White Pepper (Cut this down by half) (Too much! Cut it down by half..)


• 1 tbsp ShioXing Rice Wine

Soup Ingredients:

• Leftover fish bones (Hmm didn't have any at hand) (Omitted)


• One handful Anchovies


• 1 big Yellow onion


• 1 stalk celery


• 1 carrot


• 2 slices Ginger


• Baby Choy Sam

1 packet Dumpling skin (At the Asian grocery there were round and square ones so I opted for the square)

Directions:

1. Mix dumpling ingredients with seasonings (Used a food processor for this). Marinate in the fridge for 2 hours or longer.


2. Boil 1 liter of water in a pot. Add in soup ingredients except HKG Baby Choy Sam.


3. Boil for 1 hour in slow fire till soup become concentrate.


4. Drain ingredients, retain the soup and set aside.


5. Put 1 tbsp of batter on the dumpling skin. Fold into half & close the top end. You may get approximately 20 - 25 dumplings.


6. Heat up soup, put in the amount of dumplings that you want to consume at that moment. (I felt that I had to add a little more water as there was too little to boil the dumplings). Bring to boil for about 6-8 mins. Add in baby choy sam. Once the choy sam is cooked. Off the fire.


7. Dish up and serve immediately with rice or noodles. Or on its own.

Forget You - Cee Lo Green (Cover by @KarminMusic)

I love her voice.. And she reminds me of my friend Gwendoot =)

Food Review: Pier 24, Dunedin

I feel pampered. On Friday my boyfriend picked me up from work, there was a bouquet of roses waiting for me at home, and then he brought me to this flash glass restaurant by the beach. Tell me I'm not pampered =P

Pier 24 is a fine-dining restaurant located right beside St Clair beach. I've been eyeing it for a while as my friends have told me that it is amazing but only recently got around to eating there. The layout of the place is beautiful and the staff are so friendly. I also love how beautifully presented each dish came out.

For our starters, I had the Crisp Slow Cooked Pork Belly with a fennel and cucumber salad, pickled fig and a balsamic relish. This was sooooo goooddddd. A little bit too salty for my liking, however it was balanced by the cool, refreshing cucumber. The pork belly was cooked well, not overly fatty and with a nice crispy skin. Mmmmm.. I was hoping it would never end... (But then I'd become obese!) The perfect starter as it opens your appetite for the mains to come.
John had the Pan Fried Flaked fish with potato cake, seared Atlantic Scallops, Crushed Cherry Tomato, Chilli and Mint Salad with a Red Wine Vinegar Dressing and Lemon Horseradish Aioli. He said that the scallops were a little rubbery but sauce and pairings were very well flavoured.
For mains I had the Pan Roasted Lamb Loin with chocolate nib and fennel rub, orange candied parsnip, rosemary roasted potatoes, marmalade and 85% bitter chocolate glaze. Wow. The meat was cooked to perfection! Slightly pink, juicy and tender.. So so good! I didn't like the parsnip though as it had burnt bits which left a bitter taste in my mouth.

John had the steak, and I didn't manage to take a pic (we were too busy eating) but he said it was one of the best steaks he has had in Dunedin (along with 1908 Cafe in Portobello)!
See my happy, pampered face =P

Pier 24 is slightly more expensive compared to other restaurants in Dunedin but for the ambiance, location, good food and staff, in my opinion it's quite worth it! =)

Ispahan Cupcakes

The cupcake papers slid easily off the butter soft surface - the first sign of sweet success. Mmm, the scent of lychees and roses. I bit into it. The buttercream was soft and light, like velvet in my mouth. Then came the buttery goodness lying underneath. As I reached the centre, creamy raspberry came out to greet my taste buds. Perfect. It is comparable to eating a fragrant flower, only more butter and sweet.

Yes, in case you are wondering, I have eaten a flower before. A whole bowl of them, in Korea.

Hmm... I know I made this for a friend's birthday but I don't know how four of them ended up in my tummy. This is why I'm not thin =P

I have a rule where I will not bake the same thing twice until I have done 100 recipes, but would gladly bend the rule for this baby!

Did not put in food colouring because I don't have the best luck with buttercream. For some reason it just hates me and I didn't want to piss it off.

Found the recipe here!

Lychee Rosewater Butter Cake

Yields: 12 - 14 cupcakes

1 14 oz. can of lychees, reserve the liquid

2 cups of cake flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

5 tbsn. rose water

2 tbsn. reserved lychee water

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a cupcake pan with liners, set aside. Drain the lychees and cut into small pieces, set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a small bowl, set aside. In a mixer cream the butter and sugar until well blended and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure to scape the sides of the bowl as you move along. Next add the vanilla, rose water, and lychee water. Mix to combine. Lastly, toss the diced lychees into the flour mixture and mix with the wet mixture, mix to combine.

Pour into cupcake pans and bake about 15 - 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Stabilized Raspberry Whipped Cream Filling

Yields: enough for 12 cupcakes

1 tbsn. water

1/4 envelope of unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup of heavy cream, cold

2 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/8 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup of mashed raspberries

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the water. Let the gelatin bloom/ absorb the water for a couple of minutes. Add a dash of the heavy cream and microwave for a minute to allow the gelatin to dissolve, set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, on low, beat the cream cheese until nice and fluffy. Add the whipped cream, sugar, and salt. Whip everything till soft peaks form, then add the gelatin mixture and the vanilla. Whip until stiff peaks form, then fold in the mashed raspberries.

Refrigerate for 15 - 20 minutes.

You can use the cone method or simply pipe these into the cooled cupcakes.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Yields: enough for 12 cupcakes

2 large egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 sticks of butter (12 tbsn.), cut into 12 pieces

1- 2 drops of food coloring (optional)

Put the egg whites and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer. Place the bowl over a pot of boiling water making sure the bottom does not actually touch the water. Stir the egg whites until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and place into the mixer stand.

Beat until it becomes white and doubles in size. Add the vanilla on low speed, then add the butter, one piece at a time, making sure it is well mixed after each addition. Do not worry if it looks curdled, it will take some time for it to come together.

Continue beating for 5 - 10 minutes until everything comes together.

Spread/ pipe/ smother onto your cupcakes and enjoy

Yea, it's quite a lot of work, but definitely worth it! =)

Eggs with chorizo and manchego

I've always found Taste magazine to be quite inspired. Their recipes make you want to try them because they look accessible and not... snooty. Their down-to-earth quality really appeals to me because I feel that it will encourage even someone who has never picked up a spatula in their life to want to cook =)

Okay so I might be a little late with this, but I found a recipe for chorizo and eggs in the April issue and decided to try out. Zeroed in this recipe because it seemed easy, nutritious and colourful.

Below is the recipe from Taste magazine:

3tbsp olive oil

225g chorizo sausages, sliced

2 large onions, peeled and thickly sliced

1/2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika

1/2 tsp roasted ground cumin seeds

250g cherry tomatoes, halved

2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley

1/4 tsp salt

4-6 size 6 eggs, at room temperature

100g manchego cheese, sliced

1. Preheat oven to 180C fan bake. Heat a smidgen (I used bout 1 tbsp) of oil in a large non-stick or heavy based frying pan (I used cast iron so that I could transfer it to the oven with no worries afterwards.) over medium heat. When hot, cook the chorizo for a few minutes on each side, then transfer to a plate using a slotted spoon.

2. Discard the fat then wipe out the pan. Reheat pan, adding the remaining oil, then add onions. Cook gently for about 15 minutes, until softened and just starting to brown. Stir in the paprika and cumin, cook through for 1 minute, then add the cherry tomatoes. Continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes, just to mix them but not to soften completely. Stir through the chorizo and most of the parsley, salt and black pepper.

3. (If you are using a pan that cannot be put into an oven because of its handle, transfer your cooking to an oven-safe dish =) )Make 4-6 indentations in the mixture and break the eggs into them, leaving out some egg whites as there will be extra. Cover the dish with a lid (or a buttered baking paper with aluminium foil pressed tightly around)

4. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the eggs are done to your liking. (However, they will continue to cook even after they are removed from the oven.)

Top with sliced manchego cheese and the remaining parsley.

Mmm..Caramelised onions, sweet cherry tomatoes, warm, creamy egg yolk and spicy, salty chorizo plus the kick from the smoked paprika.. This was the perfect comfort food!

My first thoughts when reading this recipe was "Whoa, 6 eggs!" But lucky for me I have a constantly ravenous boyfriend to finish everything for me =D I reckon this is a dish that has to be served hot from the oven and is not good for storing as you will see the food separate and juices come out of it. Not pretty.

I didn't splurge on the chorizo, as two skinny and short sausages cost almost 10 bucks at the supermarket. (Why so expensive? I thought big is better? =P) Carrying out my habit as a student, I opted for the slightly cheaper but not so authentic version. Might just splurge the next time I do this recipe though! Also, couldn't find manchego as there are no specialty cheese shops in this area or the supermarket that I usually frequent so I did some research and settled for a similar dry goat's cheese. Hm, I think you can also order manchego online in NZ.

PS: Forgot to put the cheese before I took the picture (I was really hungry =P)

Sorry for not blogging these few days, been to Lake Tekapo for the Easter break! I swear that I have not seen a more beautiful place in New Zealand yet. We had a great time relaxing on our balcony overlooking serene, turquoise waters, lightly snow-covered mountains, the sleepy town and a quaint little church. We also froze our faces off on a morning cruise through the crisp waters of this breath-taking lake. Not forgetting the fact that we also spent our days eating lots of amazingly fresh salmon! Be back with travel and food photos shortly! =)

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

I remember this conversation I had with John recently

John: What's the difference between a cupcake and a muffin?? *with a bewildered look*

Sharin: Muffins are uglyyyyyyy

Well, I proved myself wrong this time. Muffins don't have to be ugly! They do become quite unhealthy with all the colouring, sugar, cream cheese and peanut butter though! But but but they are so prettyyyyyy! =)
Below is the recipe which is translated from Bulgarian (with the help of google translate of course!):

120g flour 120g fine oatmeal

1 and 1 / 2 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1 / 2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 / 2 teaspoon mix of cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger

2 eggs

100g sugar

50g brown sugar

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind

125g butter, melted

350g unsweetened applesauce

Preheat the oven to 180 ° C.
Mix flour, baking powder, salt and spice in a bowl.
In another bowl, whisk the eggs, both sugars and lemon rind until a fluffy cream. Add the cooled melted butter in parts and then the applesauce.
Pour into flour with spices and stir gently, just enough to combine ingredients.
Finally, add the oats and mix again.Line muffin tray covered with muffin liners.
Fill each liner to 3/4 full.
Bake 30 minutes.
Allow to cool completely before spreading cream on top.

For the cream:

175g Philadelphia Light

3 tablespoons peanut butter

2 tablespoons icing sugar

Cream the cheese and peanut butter then add icing sugar until it is fluffy.

Coat muffins then decorate with coloured sugar.

For the decoration:

4-5 tablespoons sugar

few drops red colouring

pretzel

marzipan

Put sugar and red colouring in a ziplock bag and shake it until it turns red. Pour it into a bowl.

Roll the piece of marzipan and cut leaves into suitable shapes. Would give the edge with a knife.

Place the muffin in the bowl of red sugar. Then place two marzipan leaves in the middle and push a piece of pretzel in between them.

I found the recipe here. Although the recipe said red colouring I did use green as well to make green and red 'apples' =)

Dark Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cupcakes

While doing some grocery shopping the other day, I walked past this cute little chocolate store and caught sight of some Reese's peanut butter cups from outside. Man, you should have seen how fast I ran into the store to get them!

I had been wanting to make peanut butter cupcakes for a while, so I bought the mini ones. It was so hard to resist stuffing them into my face before I finished baking =P

As it turns out there was a charity bake sale going on at my uni to raise funds for Japan and Christchurch so I happily gave 12 of these away =)

Below is the recipe which I sourced from Sweet Pea's Kitchen. I found the icing a little bit hard to work with.. I think it's because of the peanut butter, which gets dry really quickly!

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter


• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped


• 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder


• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour


• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda


• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder


• 2 eggs


• 3/4 cup granulated sugar


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1/2 teaspoon table salt


• 1/2 cup sour cream

Ingredients for Peanut Butter Frosting:

• 1 cup icing sugar


• 1 cup creamy peanut butter


• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature


• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• 1/3 cup heavy cream

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan with baking cup liners.


2. In a medium heatproof bowl, combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa. Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water; heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted and whisk until smooth and combined. Set aside and cool until just warm to the touch.


3. In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder; set aside.


4. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs; add sugar, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated. Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Sift one-third of flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until combined; whisk in sour cream until combined. Sift remaining flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until batter is combined.


5. Divide the batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean.


6. Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before icing.


7. To make frosting, place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl as you work. Add the heavy cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth. Place frosting into decorating bag fitted with the 1M decorating tip and approximately 1/4″ above cupcake top at a 90° angle to cupcake surface, pipe a spiral of icing, beginning at the outer edge and working inward. Place halved peanut butter cup on top of frosting.

Spinach Pancakes!

To celebrate our awesome new purchase - a Kenwood food processor - I decided to make Spinach pancakes for brunch (because you need a food processor for the whole recipe?)! Served them with a sunny side up and a slice of cheddar. Delicious! This is a great way to eat healthier and enjoy your food at the same time. The colours are so striking too!

• 3 cups fresh spinach
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup rice flour ( I used normal flour because I didn't have any)

Pulse spinach and eggs in food processor until blended. Add flour and pulse until completely blended. Pour some oil into a pan and put on medium heat. Cook the batter just like normal pancakes. Flip them when they start to bubble at the sides and let cook for another minute or two.

Recipe sourced from spabettie. Green pancakes... She's a genius!

Riverstone Kitchen @ Oamaru

Havoc Pork + Organic Chicken Rillette w Salad Greens + Roasted Ciabatta (NZD18)

Okay, I'm not really used to eating cold mains but this was very delicious. The ciabatta was a little too hard for my liking (hate it when that happens!) but on the whole the main dish gave me the impression that their food is very simple and wholesome. It made me want dessert which rarely happens!

Happy face! Affogato w Vanilla Bean Ice Cream + Lustau px Sherry (NZD12)

Let me just clarify, for those that don't know me.

Coffee + Alcohol + Ice Cream = HEAVEN! =D

Delicious, rich, creamy... Needless to say, I ignored Cherlyn and Nick for the next 20 minutes =P

Look at the amount of people here! My heart really fell when we walked in without a booking at there were 'reserved' placards all over the tables. However, this amazing waitress, didn't get her name but I shall call her Angel, whispered "Shhhh don't tell anyone but I just got a free table, follow me!". =D I feel special. But not in a retarded kind of way.

I would recommend making a booking if you would like to eat here, especially during weekends and especially if you'll be driving from Dunedin or somewhere equally far away!

I ain't gonna lie. When we were driving past Riverstone, I didn't think it looked like a restaurant, let alone one that was voted New Zealand's Restaurant of The Year in 2010 by Cuisine. From the front it looks like a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, which I guess it's a good thing now that they're kind of famous and need to fend off the hoards of people who want to come to their restaurant =P

This is the view if you walk around the back and it is magnificent. From this you can guess that they grow their own produce! They even have chickens and peacocks okay! (I'm pretty sure they don't eat peacocks but I just had to add that part =P) Nick took one look at those glorious pumpkins and said "They look like they're on steroids!!" =) Lol.. They also have a little playground for the kids. And being giant kids that we are, we ran around in it =P Quality food at affordable prices, friendly staff and a comfortable dining atmosphere, my experience at Riverstone Kitchen was an enjoyable one. I would definitely brave the 2 hour drive just to eat there again! =)

Baked Portobello w Spinach Salad

Kept it simple today because I was feeling lazy. Basically I just took a portobello mushroom, scraped out the gills with a spoon very very carefully. Placed a little tomato sauce in there, then stuffed the hell out of it with mozarella and parmesan on top to seal it, baked it at 175 C for about 12 minutes (roughly). Ate it with a light spinach salad. Simple and delicious =)

Domo - kun Oreos

I remember every time I went out during my internship in Kuala Lumpur, I'd see these cuteeee furry rectangular stuffed toys called Domo-kun on sale. There were even life-sized ones selling for like hundreds. So cute! I remember longing for one. But hey, you know what? If you can't have a life sized Domo, why not make some Domo Oreos instead? =D Baking the cookies and then matching them according to size after they have cooled. If you're impatient like me however, you would have done it right away =X Hehe The filling.. I might have been a little too generous with that! Domokun!! It was quite a long and ardous process.. And it definitely takes a lot of patience! Be ready to have some Domo casualties in the process.

Although it is quite hard to make, I found it quite rewarding to see all the little Domo-kun looking back at me =D Am I weird? lol..

Here is there recipe sourced from Diamonds For Dessert

Brown Dough

1 cup + 2 T flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2/3 of 1/2 t baking soda

1 t salt 10 T butter, cut into 3/4" cubes, room temperature

Red Dough

1/2 cup + 1 T flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 of 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt 5 T butter, cut into 3/4" cubes, room temperature

a few drops red food coloring

Filling

1/4 cup + 2 T heavy cream

8 oz. white chocolate, chopped

To make the filling, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from heat and add the white chocolate. Wait 1 minute, then whisk the chocolate and cream together until even. Then set it aside to let it thicken for 6 hours at room temperature or for less time in the fridge.

First for the brown colored dough, mix the flour, cocoa powder,sugar, baking soda, and salt together. Add the butter and incorporate it into the dry ingredients until it comes together as a dough. Gather it in a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for 10 minutes.

For the red dough, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Incorporate the butter with a spatula and then add the food coloring, mixing just until no more red streaks remain. Gather the dough and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Shaping the Dough

1. 
   
   Take some of the brown dough and make it into a rectangular prism so that the short sides measure 1 1/4 x 3/4" and place it so the longer edge (1 1/4") is parallel with your table.


2. 
   
   Next take a red piece of dough and make a rectangular prism with 3/4 x 1/2" short sides. Center this red rectangular strip on top of your first brown one with the longer edge (3/4") touching the brown dough.


3. 
   
   Then make two narrow rectangular prisms with the brown dough with the short sides measuring 3/4 x 1/4". Place them on both sides of the red rectangular piece of dough with the shorter edge (1/4") touching the brown base.


4. 
   
   Finally, make another brown rectangular prism with the short side measuring 3/4 x 1/4". Place that prism on top of the red prism and between the other two narrow brown prisms.


5. 
   
   Now smooth away the lines between the dough pieces and round the corners of your large rectangular prism. I find it easier to repeat this whole process multiple times with all of the dough to ensure that the shape of the mouth doesn't get distorted by working with too much dough at once.


6. 
   
   Once finished, wrap the shaped dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate till firm, around 30 minutes. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Take the dough out from the fridge and slice it into 1/8-inch pieces, placing them onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake them for 12 minutes.


7. 
   
   Let them cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack. Once the cookies are totally cool, they can be filled.


8. 
   
   First pair up all your cookies by size. Only one cookie in each pair will need to be decorated (since the other cookie will be the bottom of the sandwich). Place the white chocolate ganache in a piping bag.


9. 
   
   Take one cookie from a pair and pipe a bit of filling in the center. Place the other cookie on top and carefully press the cookies together to spread out the filling to the edges. Repeat with the rest of the cookies.

Decorating Domo Cookies

bittersweet chocolate

black food coloring

white chocolate

toothpicks

Melt the bittersweet chocolate. Add a little bit of black food coloring and mix till evenly blended.Take a toothpick and dot on eyes on the cookies.

Next, melt some white chocolate. Trace the top and bottom edge of the red mouth on the cookie with the white chocolate. Then make four teeth on the top edge and four teeth on the bottom edge of the cookie.

Repeat with the rest of the cookies.

Serve immediately, or if not, keep refrigerated so the cookies stay crisp and let return to room temperature when ready to serve.

This recipe is sourced from Diamonds for Desserts