FEBRUARY MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: YOUNG MO KIM'S CHOCOLATE CHIFFON RECIPE

chocolate chiffon with chantilly cream frosting

Have you ever gotten chantilly cream on your macro lens? It's a bloody pain to wipe off.

young mo kim's chocolate chiffon

I lucked out with a leap year and was able to accomplish baking the February Recipe Mission . Yeah, I waited until the last minute but it got done and that's what's important!

the naked chocolate chiffon

The picture of the chocolate chiffon in Kim's cookbook is beautiful, with huge white and dark chocolate curls scattered over the chantilly cream frosting. The chiffon cake looked tender and moist and I was hoping that this would be the holy grail of chiffon recipes. I had previously halted my quest for the perfect chiffon recipe. I had completed some heavy research and testing of various chiffon recipes and arrived at the conclusion that the America Test Kitchen's chiffon cake was the best thus far.
However, Kim's illustrations were enticing and I was curious to see if it could be better than the ATK recipe.

here's my feeble attempt at creating the dramatic swirls. note how crumbs get caught so easily

I knew before I even started that the "chantilly cream" frosting would be a challenge. I mean geez, I've tried to frost a cake with whipped cream before and it's not so easy. Crumbs get into the frosting and it tends to droop. It also doesn't hold up very well in warm weather either. Kim's frosting technique has these dramatic large propeller-like swirls on the sides of the cake.

*update: thank you for the comments on creating a crumb coat everyone! Your advice is much appreciated! However, it is always my practice to apply a crumb coat before frosting. I DID do a crumb coat on this chocolate chiffon, but because the stiff whipped cream has a high water content and is so soft, it does not set in the refrigerator like a buttercream does. A buttercream will harden in the refrigerator but a chantilly cream doesn't. As a result, when you bring it out of the refrigerator, the cake has absorbed the moistness from the thin layer of whipped cream and the surface is still soft. When you apply the rest of the chantilly cream frosting, the cake crumbs will still tend to lift off the cake layers, but I suppose not as much as if you didn't apply any crumb coat at all.

chocolate always makes things better: scatter those chocolate shavings and hide the ugly spots!

I gave it my best shot, but I looked at the amount of whipped cream in my mixing bowl and realized there was no way I could do it. I didn't have enough of the frosting to create the dramatic swirls. I had a feeling that in his professional kitchen, he probably made a huge batch and had more prepared whipped cream to play with. I could only make little swirls and when I made it all the way around the cake sides and back to where I started, I couldn't figure out how to finish it neatly. I ended up muddling it. Oh well, it's all good if you camouflage it with chocolate shavings. doesn't that look moist?
After tasting this chiffon, I was surprised by how moist and yet dry it was. I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but it's true! The crumb appeared tender but it tasted kind of like a sponge in texture and flavour. I was disappointed with the faint chocolate flavour. As well as not having a deep enough chocolate flavour, it also left a funny flat aftertaste in my mouth. Perhaps it required some vanilla extract or more cocoa powder. I don't know. It needed something.
looks can be deceiving: all fluff and no depth

The chiffon was okay but not the best I have made. Besides all this I'm left with extra egg yolks. It's such a bother when a recipe requires more whites than yolks. Now I have to figure out what to do with the yolks. The ATK chiffon utilizes 7 whole eggs. I like that. It also fits a standard chiffon tube pan (and not the two mini 6 inch pans that Kim requires in his recipe).
the chantilly cream frosting saves this cake


Without the chantilly cream frosting, I don't think this chocolate chiffon would be too enjoyable to eat. Though I scarfed down my first piece of cake in mere seconds, I don't think I'll be making this one again. I'll stick to the ATK chiffon recipe and all its wonderful variations.

La Petite France Revisited

Picasso


Relatives from out of town are in Vancouver and I thought before they leave they should try some French sweets. I headed to my favourite patisserie at Arbutus and 10th: La Petite France. When I walk in and look at the showcase of baked goods I am reminded of my stay in France with my dear friends V & P.

Though my trip to England and France was a few years ago, the imagery is still vivid in my mind. We travelled across regions of France by car that summer and I got a taste of what life was really like in France. The countryside was amazing with its fields of sunflowers with their heads bowed towards the summer sun. "La plage" was not the kind of beach I was used to in Vancouver, but it was pretty nonetheless. We have sandy beaches lapped by the cold Pacific Ocean; whereas a few of the beaches we visited were grassy man-made affairs ringed with concrete or pebbles around a pool of water. Perhaps this was because we were not hanging out along the coast I reckon.

Mangue Framboise

Staying with V & P was so much better than doing the touristy hotel thing. Each region we visited was so unique that it was like being in a different country. With its diverse topography, France seems to have it all. The regional specialties were the highlights of my trip. I recall the little works of edible art in the patisseries, all lined up like glistening soldiers. Meringues were as huge as your face. Croissants were flaky, buttery, golden brown and ethereal. Hot chocolate never tasted so good in the morning, drunk from a bowl. I dipped my brioche in the hot chocolate and little crumbs of the butter-rich bread floated in the chocolatey-brown froth.

Mousse au 3 chocolat (white, milk & dark chocolate)

V & P shared with me an incomparable lifestyle so much different than the Canadian one I led back home. Life slowed down. I learned to eat more slowly. I realized the open market, with fresh local produce, was the ideal way to purchase and enjoy food. Fruits and vegetables were at their peak and regional cuisine was not a trendy way of eating but a way of life. Red wine became an everyday beverage and I realized that bottled water could be salty too. I realized I loved cheese of all sorts and saucissons sec and rillettes were revelations.

I don't think I ate a thing that was processed in the way we North Americans process our fast foods and junk foods. The French way of life made a lifelong impression upon me and I wistfully remember when I came home I thought our ways "cold". I missed the air kisses on the cheek. I missed the wine, the cheese, the pace of life and of course I missed my friends V & P. I embarked on a mission to try to relive those memories. I tried to locate authentic French cheeses and wines and all sorts of foods. I purchased a cast iron fondue pot and made authentic cheese fondue. I bought an expensive crepe pan to replicate the fantastic crepes I ate (with my favourite filling, Nutella!)

Mangue,coco et annas

You know what? though I found some really good renditions of all those foods, it just wasn't the same. I soon fell off the French wagon. It was too difficult and expensive to keep up the ruse. I think it best to live and eat like the locals.

Interestingly enough, I didn't gain any weight during my stay in France. In fact, I think I lost a few pounds. I don't recall snacking at all during my stay there. People just didn't seem to snack like we do in North America. We also walked quite a bit. And we didn't sit around watching television all day.

Walking into the little west side patisserie, La Petite France, is like walking into France. The little shop has a display case with authentic French pastries. You can find madeleines, an opera cake, handmade chocolates, baguettes and croissants. It even has a mini deli if you're hankering for something savoury. When you sit down with your eclair and a little white cup of illy coffee, you're transported back to France for the moment.

DOTTY FOR YOU: VALENTINE'S DAY COOKIES

"dotty for you" valentine's day butter cookies

For Valentine's Day, I wanted to bake Bebe and Bib some cookies.

the white royal icing dots are so easy to pipe (but a little bit time-consuming)

Fortuitously, I remembered that I had a slab of butter cookie dough left over from Christmas Baking in the freezer. I had even rolled it out and saved it between parchment and plastic wrap.

I whipped up a simple royal icing using meringue powder and confectioners' sugar and rummaged around for my food colouring. I found the powdered stuff and put a pinch into the mixer. The colour was kind of icky and so I kept adding pinches of the food colouring but it never did achieve the nice baby pink colour I had intended. Instead, I had an orangey-pink hue.

I did my best to flood the cookies with the icing and decided it was best to disguise the hideous shade of pink with some white royal icing. The quickest and least artistically offensive design I came up with were these dots.

a plate full of love & kisses

It's not too late to bake some sweets for your sweetie! Click here and here for good butter cookie recipes.

MY FAVOURITE ASIAN JUNK FOODS

garlic green peas

I have a shameless addiction to sodium-laden junk food. If there were some sort of Junk Foods anonymous group, I'd have to join it. Lately, I've discovered Asian junk food at T & T, an asian supermarket chain in Vancouver which carries a myriad of Asian foods. Sometimes I find weird and funky things. Often I discover totally delicious stuff.

My snack pantry currently has favourite snacks that proclaim some sort of "health benefit" to them. Yeah, I know. Who am I kidding? Well, I'm still trying to lose those last few stubborn pounds of baby weight so I can fit into my skinny jeans again. I recently decided to go low carb as much as possible. It'll be fun to pack my low carb bento lunches for work, but sometimes it's difficult around 4pm and I've got the munchies.

Garlic Green Peas are individually packaged and handy when I need something savoury and crunchy. The ingredients are green peas, vegetable oil, garlic, sugar, salt, and garlic powder. They're made in Taiwan by this company called Global-Mart Food; Triko Foods Co. I can't read Chinese so I can't tell you what it says on the package or what their brand name is. Sorry!

I think the fact that they are portioned in these itty bitty packages helps--as long as I remember not to have more than one little package! Since the buggers are kind of difficult to rip open, that's good too for portion control. The Garlic Green Peas beat Wasabi peas in my opinion because I'm not too fond of wasabi. They would go great with a nice cold beer I imagine; yet I don't really like drinking beer... but for some reason I yearn for a beer when I'm eating these peas! On the bag, there's this bottle of sake in the background. You get the idea.
* * *

coconut flavoured roasted sunflower seeds

Another totally unexpectedly delicious Asian snack surprise came when I decided to try Coconut Flavoured roasted Sunflower seeds. I'm generally not a sunflower seed-eater and often find the way people spit the shells out kind of disgusting. However, I suspended my elitist views to give this interesting snack a try. It was SO good I couldn't believe it.only the Cha Cheer brand carries a coconut flavoured sunflower seed

All other flavoured sunflower seeds pale in flavour profile in comparison. There's anise-flavoured and spicy flavoured sunflower seeds but they're not as good. The coconut flavour is hauntingly good. You can't stop with a little handful. I don't even really like sunflower seeds in general and consider it bird food; but this stuff is so good! As well, this company's seeds are juicy and plump and the number of rotten ones are few and far between.
isn't the "engrish" translation cute? nice try. it's kind of poetic i suppose

I have since developed a sunflower seed cracking technique that obviates spitting. I crack the shells with my front teeth and pull out the seed with the fingers of my other hand before popping them in my mouth. My mother does this one-handed-crack-the-seed-with-your-teeth-use-your-tongue-to-dislodge-the-seed-and-eat-it-all-at-once technique which amazes me. She goes through about 2 to 3 seeds for every one seed I eat. She laughs and pokes fun at my obsessive-compulsive way of eating the seeds but when she hits the occasional rotten seed she pays for it! Taking it all in stride she says it's okay and it's not going to kill her. The Chinese manufacturer was even kind enough to include instructions for eating the seeds, "crack the shell with your teeth, eat the seed and spit the shell. Be cautious don't eat the seed without spitting the shell!" I just love it. har har!mmm. plump seeds!
***

the almighty japanese crispy seaweed snack. this snack kicks butt!

My favourite snack that has replaced potato chips, is Japanese Crispy Seaweed. Yes, I initially thought it would be like eating roasted Nori for sushi, the little packages of teriyaki-flavoured strips of seaweed or even the Korean flavoured seaweed. No way! This stuff is crispy and light and seasoned just right! I like to buy the Seafood flavour because the package purports to contain Omega-3, DHA and EPA. The other flavours don't have that claim. The spicy flavour is pretty good but I haven't tried their wasabi flavour. The tomato flavoured one is just too weird a combination. Thankfully, there's some translation on the package: it's called Tao Kae Noi Crispy Seaweed. The ingredients are simply seaweed, oil, seafood flavour and salt. On the back of the package are the numbers for its fatty acid composition. It's produced and distributed by Taokaenoi Food and Marketing Co. in Thailand.

this is the unseasoned side. it's a little bubbly looking. these seaweed snacks are not oily (unlike Korean seaweed snacks), but dry and crisp.

Okay, I kid you not about this little anecdote. Last year, over the course of the summer I had ingested quite a few packages of these sunflower seeds (good thing they're cheap!) and even more of the crispy seaweed (not so cheap!). My hairstylist noticed my hair was particularly strong, soft and silky. He said, "oh my goodness!" and pulled out a really weird hair. It was black at the root for about an inch and a half and then grey to the end. He carefully set the strand of hair aside so he could show his colleagues later because he had never seen someone in his whole career as a stylist (more than 30 years!) with even one hair that had done that before. It was a grey hair that had reverted back to its original colour! Cool, eh? Unfortunately, I only had one strand of hair do that. Those sunflower seeds were the only thing I changed about my diet at the time, so I'd like to think they had a hand in reclaiming my hair colour. I don't have a lot of grey to begin with, but it's kind of neat to think eating sunflower seeds and omega 3 rich foods will bring back youthful-looking hair!

NO, THAT'S NOT POPCORN IN MY TEA!

japanese green tea with popped rice

Japanese green tea with popped rice (a.k.a. "Genmaicha", roasted rice tea) is absolutely delicious. The roasted brown rice imparts a nutty flavour to the tea. This is my favourite tea to drink with sushi. It's great with desserts because it cleanses your palate and it's fantastic on its own as a refreshing drink.

my jenaer teapot has a built-in gold filter: put your loose tea leaves here and you won't have floaters!

I like to purchase big bags of this type of green tea at the Asian market and it lasts me a long time. This type of green tea is not too grassy or bitter and it's the best kind to introduce to novice green tea drinkers. By the way, never add sugar or milk to green tea. It's almost as bad as pouring soy sauce on your white rice (my pet peeve). Not only are you negating the health benefits, you're muddying the flavour of the tea.

my favourite teapot: german designed, the jenaer glass teapot has a built in filter and warmer

Never mind about the antioxidant properties of green tea, or the fact that it helps fight tooth decay, cancer and heart disease. It's just a delicious drink in my opinion! I don't drink coffee at work but instead drink green tea continuously throughout the day. I hate coffee breath and green tea doesn't give you that. Instead, it fights halitosis!

the jenaer teapot is a functional piece of art

Green tea seems to be a panacea with all the disease-fighting properties some research claims it can have. It has cancer-fighting properties,reduces blood cholesterol, inhibits hypertention, balances blood sugar, kills bacteria and viruses,fights cariogenic bacteria (cavities) and prevents halitosis (bad breath). Green tea contains:

• Catechins (a core component) –a class of polyphenol found in tea which function as antioxidants
• Flavonoids - strengthen blood vessel walls. Prevents halitosis (bad breath).
• Fluoride - prevents cavities.
• Polysaccharides - lowers blood sugar.
• r-Amino Butyric Acid - lowers blood pressure .
• Vitamin-B Complex - aids carbohydrate metabolism .
• Vitamin-C - reduces stress. Prevents flu. Increases strength of the immune system
• Vitamin-E - acts as antioxidant. Regulates aging.
• Theanine (amino acid) - responsible for green tea’s delicious taste

Many people believe green tea can:

• Prevent and hasten recovery from colds and flu.
• Prevent bad breath (halitosis).
• Aid with the prevention and relief of type-two diabetes.
• Block key receptors in producing allergic reactions.
• Aid Parkinson's disease sufferers.
• Slow the HIV infection process.
• Maintain healthy fluid balance
• Relieve fatigue and stress.
• Boost the immune function of skin cells.
• Relieve and prevent arthritis.
• Reduce the risk of stroke.
• Prevent osteoporosis.
• Reduce DNA damage in smokers.
• Delay the signs of aging.
• Improve bone structure.
• Prevent dangerous blood-clotting.
• and to me most importantly: burn calories!- it has thermogenic properties which promote fat burning and increases energy expenditure.

I was loving green tea before all this hype about its health benefits, (and I drink all forms of tea)but now I'm hoping that all my green-tea drinking will prove to be my fountain of youth! ha ha! Actually, I'm addicted to the flavour primarily and it's a bonus that is has health benefits. It's nice to know my passion for green tea won't kill me, unlike all the baking I do using refined products like sugar and white flour! yikes!

***

The tea store I purchased my Jenaer pot has since closed down, but I researched a bit and found that Herbal Republic in Vancouver sells Jenaer pots too.

Herbal Republic: 2418 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3G6, Canada

Tel (604) 263-2000 mailto:%20info@herbalrepublic.com

FEBRUARY MISSION: YOUNG MO KIM'S CHOCOLATE CHIFFON CAKE

I just got my Amazon package! In the box was a cookbook I have been yearning for, Young Mo Kim's A Collection of Fine Baking. The book is amazing. It's professionally presented and is the winner of the "Gourmand" World Cookbook Awards. Kim is the president of the Korean Bakers' Association and teaches as well as appears in television shows in Korea. He was selected as one of the judges for the 2004 and 2005 World Pastry Team Championships. If you can read Korean (which I don't) you can visit his website http://www.k-bread.com/.

The recipes are all illustrated and are easy to follow for the home baker. What is kind of quirky about the cookbook is that it has a series of anime characters who walk you through the process of baking. The selection of cookies, cakes, pastries, breads and fusion desserts is awesome. In it I found traditional French desserts such as macarons, financiers and opera cakes. However, the Eurasian desserts really caught my eye. Among the recipes that caught my eye: Green Tea Cake, Green Tea Chiffon Cake, Sweet Potato Cake, Macaroons, Chestnut Pudding, Pave Earl Grey Fresh Chocolate, Double Chocolate Mousse Cake and so much more!

For my February Recipe Mission I will be attempting to make Kim's Chocolate Chiffon Cake. The recipe calls for way more egg whites (10) than I'm used to using in a chiffon cake recipe and yields 2 chiffon cakes! Yikes. That's a lot of cake. I'll have to bring some to work to share. It's frosted with a chantilly cream and dark and white chocolate curls too. The frosted cake looks fantastic with its huge white swirls of stiffly whipped cream running up the sides like a propeller. This swirling technique looks like it's going to be the toughest part. I can envision myself spending an inordinate amount of time swirling and reswirling the chantilly cream to achieve the beautifully decorated sides.

CHOCOLATE CHIFFON CAKE
from Young Mo Kim's A Collection of Fine Baking

Sponge:
egg yolks 120 g (6 egg yolks)
A. sugar 90 g (1/2 cup and 1 T)
water 120 g (1/2 cup and 4 t)
olive oil 120 g (1/2 cup and 4 t)
cake flour 160 g (1 1/2 cups and 1 T)
cocoa powder 20 g (1/4 cup)
baking powder 7 g (2 t)
egg whites 320 g (10 egg whites)
B. sugar 120 g (3/4 cup)

Chantilly Cream:
heavy cream 300 g (1 1/2 cups)
sugar 30 g ( 2 1/2 T)
rum 5 g (1 t)

Topping:
dark chocolate 315 g (11 oz)
white chocolate 315 g (11 oz)
chocolate syrup

equipment: 2 angel food pans (7"); 1 baking pan
yield: 2 chiffon cakes
baking time: 55 minutes @ 300degrees F/150degrees C

Sponge:

1. Preheat the oven to 300degrees F/150degrees C. Put egg yolks in a large bowl and beat for about 10 seconds. Then, add A. sugar and beat at high speed for about 2 minutes or until the colour lightens.
2. Add water and beat. Then, add olive oil and beat well.
3. Mix cake flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder and sift three times and then add to the batter. Beat until you no longer see any powder.
4. Then, in a separate bowl, make a meringue using the egg whites and B. sugar
5. Add half of the meringue to the batter and fold in using a spatula. Then, add the rest of the meringue and fold in.
6. Spray water all around the inside of a 7" (18cm) angel food pan and place it inside the baking pan. Pour the batter into the angel food pan. Fill up only about 3/4 of the pan. Then, use a chopstick or any clean stick to dip in the batter and go around the pan twice to get the air out from the batter.
7. Bake at 300degrees F for about 55 minutes or until golden brown. Do not lift the angel pan with batter inside; put the entire pan assemblage in the oven to bake.
8. Immediately turn the pan upside down and place it on a cooling rack (or stick the center of the pan onto the neck of a bottle).
9. Run a metal spatula around the inside of the pan. Then, take the sponge out. Use a knife to separate the bottom of the angel food pan and the sponge.

Chantilly Cream:

In a separate bowl, put heavy cream, sugar and rum and beat until it is stiff (remember to add the sugar half at a time for better results).

Decoration:

1. Slice the sponge in half and apply a layer of cream. Put on the upper sponge and transfer the cake to the turntable.
2. Put a thick layer of chantilly cream on the top first, then put enough in the center to cover the sponge. Put cream around the side using a metal spatula.
3. Put a generous amount of the cream on the spatula and gently press against the side and drag about 2" (5 cm) as you turn the cake around. Repeat this process and decorate all around the cake.
4. Put another portion of the cream on the tip of the spatula and place it on top of the cake as shown.
5. Use a knife to scrape both chocolates slowly toward yourself for the decoration, making curls.
6. Decorate half of the cake with the white chocolate shavings and the other half with the dark chocolate shavings. Pour on some chocolate syrup to finish the decoration.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE REVIEW

VANILLA BEAN CARAMEL FLEUR DE SEL

vanilla bean caramel fleur de sel and matcha ice cream

vanilla bean caramel fleur de sel

I finally found where I had hidden my Fleur de Sel. It was tucked away behind my big bin of bread flour and though I unfortunately couldn't find it when I needed it for making my World Peace Cookies for Christmas, I can now try my hand at making caramel fleur de sel.

I made a whole whack of macarons the other day and sandwiched the salty caramel between the shells. They were absolutely delicious and the fleur de sel, which I used kind of heavy-handedly, was a perfect foil to the sweet caramel. I used a total of 8 grams of fleur de sel. My caramel is definitely salty when you taste it alone. However, served accompanying other sweets it enhances flavours quite well.

lick this!

I have quite a bit of caramel left over from making the macarons so I decided to try it with ice cream. The salty caramel brings out the smoky green tea flavours and pairs amazingly well with this ice cream. Now what do I do with the remaining cup of caramel? I'm thinking it would go well with a chocolate tart or swirled onto foam in a cafe au lait. Straight off the spoon will do too!

VANILLA BEAN CARAMEL FLEUR DE SEL

200g sugar
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
200g (1 cup) cream, warmed in the microwave
5g fleur de sel (I used 8 grams!)
140g butter, chilled

• In a deep, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, cook the sugar, stirring continuously until sugar melts and caramelizes a golden colour. Continue stirring and add in the contents of the vanilla pod.
• Reduce the temperature to low heat and add the warm cream to the caramel a bit at a time, stirring constantly. It will bubble up and splatter, but that's okay! Then add the fleur de sel. Stir to make sure all the caramel has dissolved.
• Cool the mixture to approximately 40 degrees Celsius. Add in the cold cubed butter. Use an immersion blender to blend the butter and create a smooth glossy paste. Line the surface of the caramel with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming and chill in the refrigerator until needed.

SIZZLING GINGER GREEN ONION CLAY POT OYSTERS

ginger green onion clay pot oysters

mise en place: green onion, yellow onion, chinese sausage(laap cheung), bbq pork (cha siu), ginger

I was hankering for some deep fried oysters and decided to make my homespun rendition of Sizzling Oyster HotPot, a Cantonese Clay Pot dish served in restaurants
start with whatever you have in the fridge. I had chinese sausage (laap cheung) and bbq pork (cha siu). Often, I've tossed a spoonful of pineapple tidbits in or deepfried tofu. Almost anything goes!
in a ziploc bag, coat oysters in heavily seasoned cornstarch/flour mixture. then i shallow fry them until golden. at this point, it's hard to resist eating them
in a clay pot, add sliced ginger and saute until fragrant
toss in the onions and continue sauteing until translucent; then chuck everything else in!

add the oysters last and toss to mix. unfortunately, i forgot to take a picture after i tossed the oysters with everything else! i just wanted to eat it