Strawberry Charlotte Royale

Ingredients

Biscuit Roulade:
4 Eggs, large
3 tbsp Water, warm
120 g White sugar
1 Package / 8 g Vanilla sugar
75 g All-purpose flour
50 g Cornstarch
3 g Baking powder
Some cassis jam
Filling:
300 g Fresh strawberries
3 tbsp Honey
18 g Unflavoured gelatin granules
300 g 13% Philadelphia yogurt cheese
300 g 3.5% Vanilla yogurt
200 g Whipping cream
1 circle 9-inch Sponge cake

Method

1.Line a 40x30 cm baking tray with greased parchment paper. Sift all-purpose, cornstarch and baking powder. Beat the egg yolks with warm water until fluffy, then add in 100 grams of white sugar and vanilla sugar and beat until thick and light lemon colored. Beat the egg whites until foamy. Sprinkle in the remaining white sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold yolk mixture into whites. Add the sifted dry ingredients to egg mixture, folding in carefully. Spread batter in prepared pan and bake at 200C/400F for 13 minutes or until just done. The center should spring back when lightly touched.
2.Turn out onto a clean dish towel (or a parchment paper) which has been liberally sprinkled with confectioners' sugar. Carefully peel off the paper and trim off crisp edges. While still hot roll cake with cloth from narrow end. Cool rolled up cake on a rack. When cool, unroll and spread jam over the cake. Roll up and chill for 1 hour. Cut into no thicker than ½-inch thick slices.
3.Make the berry mousse: In a blender puree berries with the honey and strain the puree through a fine sieve. Pour about 1/3 puree in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin powder over and let it soften for 5 minutes. Place mixture in a pot filled with some water. Heat until gelatin dissolves, stirring constantly, until the gelatin is dissolved and whisk it into the rest of the puree. Whisk the Philadelphia and yogurt into the strawberry mixture, whisking until it is smooth. Whip the cream until thick and fold into strawberry mixture.
4.Line a 8-inch plastic bowl with plastic wrap. Starting in the center, lay the cake slices edge to edge. The slices should be pressed together so any gaps between them are kept small. Continue this all the way around, up the sides of the bowl. Slowly pour the mousse in and cover with an 8-inch circle of cake. Chill overnight.
5.To serve: Place a cardboard cake-circle or a serving plate on top of the bowl and flip over. Tug gently on the plastic wrap to remove the cake from the mold. Garnish the cake with berries if desired.

Fried Fish Balls Coated With Sesame

Ingredients

450 g Fish fillet
50 g Ground meat
Frying oil
Chili or cocktail sauce
3 g Salt
15 g Jiafan rice wine
10 g Sesame oil
25 g Cornstarch
10 g Chopped spring onion
15 g Ginger paste
15 g Egg white
20 g Sesame seeds

Method

1.Clean the fish fillets and chopped together with ground meat until well combined.
2.Add the rest of ingredients except frying oil into the fish mixture, and mix well.
3.Shape into 1-inch balls, coat with sesame seeds.
4.Fry croquettes in 2-inch deep oil at 150C/300F until golden brown.
5.Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately with the sauce.

Egg Custard Tarts A La Hong Kong

Ingredients

Water Dough:
250 g All-purpose flour
½ Egg, beaten
25 g Sugar
13 g Lard or shortening
75 g Water
Oil Dough:
150 g Butter
250 g Lard or shortening
200 g All-purpose flour
Filling:
100 g Egg, beaten
1 Egg yolk
90 g Evaporated milk
90 g Water
50 g Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Method

1.To prepare water dough: place flour in a mixing bowl, add in sugar, egg and shortening, mix well. Then stir water into the flour mixture to form a soft dough.
To prepare oil dough: Mix both ingredients together.
2.Place them in the freezer until they are firm and solid. Roll out the oil dough into a rectangle. Roll out the water dough into a rectangle twice the size of water dough. Place the oil dough in the centre of water dough. Fold over both sides to overlap. Roll out flat. Fold the pastry into quarters. Roll out flat. Repeat twice and roll dough into a big rectangle.
3.Mix the water and evaporated milk together in a sauce pan and bring to boil. Add in sugar and cook until the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Add the beaten eggs and vanilla extract. Strain the filling twice through a sieve.
4.Use a pastry cutter to divide the dough and press into tins so that it covers the bottom, and pushes up higher than the sides. Use 2 fingers to shape the edge into an A shape.
Pour filling 8/10th full into the tart mould and bake in a preheated oven at 180C/350F for 25 minutes or until the surface of the tart turns golden.

Braised Pork Trotters

Ingredients

2 pcs/750 g Pork trotter (get the butcher to cut into the small chunks)
10 - 12 Dried black mushrooms
1 stalk Spring onion
4-6 pcs Ginger slices
1 pc Star anise
1 tbsp Dark soya sauce
1 tbsp Light soya sauce
25 g Jiafan rice wine
5-8 pcs Szechuan pepper corns
1 tbsp Salad oil
1 tsp Salt
15 g Sugar
4-5 pcs Dried chili
Some water

Method

1.Wash trotters and clean well. Bring half a pot of water to a boil. Put in trotter and parboiled for 3-4 minutes.
2.Remove and place the trotter in a pressure cooker together with the dried mushrooms, ginger slices, spring onion, rice wine, soya sauces and star anise. Add in enough water to cover the trotter and cook for about 15 minutes.
3.Heat up a wok with salad oil. Add in sugar and saut¨¦ until fragrant and sugar has melted. Transfer the trotter from the presser cooker to the wok and bring to a boil. Add in dried chili and flavoured with salt. Reduce the heat and continue to simmer until the sauce turns thick and the trotter is cooked through. Dish out and sprinkle with some chopped spring onions. Serve the dish immediately.

Chrysanthemum-shaped Eggplant

Ingredients

250-300 g Eggplant
Cornstarch
3 g Salt
3 g Ginger root, shredded
3 g Garlic, minced
1+½ tbsp Chili sauce or ketchup
80 ml Stock
1/3 tsp Chicken bouillon
1 tbsp Starchy solution
Oil for deep frying

Method

1.Destem, rinse and peel the eggplant. Cut into 4cm high chunks and cut the surface crosswise. Sprinkle the eggplants with a bit of salt. Thoroughly coat the eggplants with cornstarch, shaking to remove any excess starch.
2.Heat up a frying pan with enough oil until very hot. Low down the prepared eggplants fry until golden. Drain and plate.
3.Leave a bit of oil in the same pan and heat up. Add in ginger, garlic and chili sauce. Stir briefly and add in stock, salt, chicken bouillon. Bring to boil and thicken with starchy solution. Lightly pour over the fried eggplants and serve hot.

Coffee Nut Muffins

Ingredients
Batter:
2 tsp Instant coffee powder
125 ml Hot water
175 g German #405 flour
20 g Alkalized unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp Baking powder
110 g Butter at room temperature
100 g Caster sugar
2 Eggs at room temperature
1/2 tsp Rum extract
30 Whole skinless hazelnuts
Glaze:
100 g Powdered sugar, sieved
1/2 tsp Instant coffee powder
2 tbsp Hot water

Method

1.Preheat oven to 190C/375F. Line muffin tins with papers or grease liberally. Dissolve the coffee powder in hot water. Set aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Set aside.
2.Beat butter in large bowl until creamy. Gradually add in sugar and beat until fluffy and light in colour. Add in eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Mix in rum extract. Alternately add in flour mixture and prepared coffee. Stir only until combined. Do not overmix.
3.Fill muffin cups 4/5 full and top with 3 hazelnuts. Bake 25 minutes. Transfer the muffins on a wire rack. Combine together the powdered sugar and instant coffee. Add in hot water and stir until smooth. Drizzle the glaze across the top of each muffin and leave to set before serving.

Bienenstich 3 - German Bee Sting Cake

Ingredients
Dough:
190 g German #550 flour
45 g Unsalted butter
40 g Sugar
45 ml Milk, lukewarm
1 Egg yolk
5 g Instant dry yeast
Topping:
75 g Butter, unsalted
40 g Honey
1 package / 8 g Vanilla sugar
1 tbsp Milk
120 g Almond slices
Filling:
500 g Quark
1 package / 8 g Vanilla sugar
80 g Caster sugar
200 g Whipping cream
1 package / 8 g Stabilizer for whipping cream

Method

1.Combine together flour, dry yeast, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add in butter, egg and milk to form a dough. Knead the dough until soft and smooth. Put the dough in a lightly greased plastic bag. Tie the bag and let rise for about 1 hour until double in bulk at room temperature.
2.Grease a 28 cm springform pan. Roll out the dough on the prepared pan. Let rise one more time until the dough doubles in size. Heat the butter, honey, vanilla sugar and milk in a saucepan until runny on the slow heat. Add in almond slices and bring it to a boil. Remove and allow it to cool. Spread the almond honey mixture over the dough. Bake in a preheated oven at 190C/375F for about 30 minutes. Cool the baked dough on a wire rack.
3.Blend the quark, vanilla sugar and sugar until the mixture is smooth. Whip the cream for half minute, then sprinkle the stabilizer over and beat until stiff peak forms. Fold the whipped cream into the smooth quark.. Slice cooled dough into two layers. Spread the quark cream on the bottom layer and cover with the almond top.

Alaska Pollock In Teriyaki

Ingredients

300 g Alaska Pollock fillets, frozen
½ tsp Black pepper powder
½ tbsp Cornstarch
2/3 tbsp Cooking oil
1-2 Ginger slices
3 tbsp Teriyaki sauce

Method

1.Thaw the fish fillets slowly in the refrigerator. It takes about 12 hours, so put it in the fridge the night before you need it. Rinse and pat them dry with a kitchen towel. Evenly sprinkle the fish with black pepper powder. Let sit for 10 minutes, and then pat with cornstarch.
2.Heat up a pan with oil until hot. Add in ginger slices and fish halves. Pan-fry until it starts to caramelise. Swab extra grease from the frying pan and fish away with kitchen paper. Pour in teriyaki and simmer over the medium-low heat, turning once and cook until the sauce is thick and syrupy.