Leftover Fun

I am never one to waste food. I always freeze the extra egg whites; I never throw away any sablee or puff pastry dough scraps; I even save the pineapple cores and coriander roots to flavor soups. If it’s edible, I’ll find a way to use it, some way, anyway.

When I made the Opéra the other day, I miscalculated how much coffee butter cream I needed and ended up with lots of leftover. Even though I’m not a fan of butter cream in large quantities (I only tolerate it in Opera because it’s such a thin layer) it still seems like a crime to throw it away. Plus, it’s coffee flavored!

I happened to have some cupcakes leftover from the preparation for a Food & Travel magazine photo shoot sitting in the fridge so I decided to put the butter cream on the cupcakes. This is the result and the Opéra from which it had spawn.



Then it hit me that if you fill it with some chocolate ganache, soak with some coffee syrup, and top with coffee cream. You’ll have all the flavors of an Opéra without the labor-intensive process. Now won't that be nice?

Opéra

Ten batches of macarons, two batches of cupcakes and two batches of sponge cakes later, I still haven’t come off the pastry-making high brought on by the month-long hiatus. What to make next? Then I remembered the congnac I asked for but never drank on the flight from the States. Of course, I’ll make an Opéra! It’s been ages since I’ve made an Opéra, mainly because it’s such an intense flavor that you almost need a grand occasion to make it, just like its namesake, the grand Paris Opera. But lately, I’ve been pining for some strong tasting desserts. Maybe because I have, in the large part, been disappointed by the dessert scene in Singapore, or maybe it’s because I haven’t done any dessert binging in such a long time that my body is sending me the signal to indulge. Either way, today is the day to make Opéra.

Although many believe that Dalloyau was the first to have come up with the recipe, known as L'Opéra, it was Louis Clichy who debuted this cake at the 1903 Exposition Culinaire in Paris with his own name emblazoned across the top. Regardless of who created it, the basic components of Opéra are joconde biscuit soaked in coffee and cognac flavored syrup, layered between coffee flavored butter cream and chocolate ganache. It is traditionally covered with pâte à glacer in a shiny mirror surface with simply the word Opéra written across. Sometimes it’s adorned with a few specks of gold leaves, but the overall effect is very minimalist. This is a cake that has enough flavors to speak for itself that no frivolous decoration is needed.

A good Opéra needs to be very low in height. Mine usually clocks in at just slightly more than 2.5cm with three layers of joconde. I also prefer to use a chocolate glacage to cover the surface in place of the pâte à glacer for who needs compound chocolate when you can have the real thing?

When I made my first Opéra, I made the mistake of not soaking the joconde with enough syrup. Since the joconde is rather dry by nature and neither butter cream nor ganache is rich in moisture either, if not properly syruped (hm, is that a word?) you’ll end up with a dry Opéra, which is still nice but doesn’t have nearly as much oomph as a properly syruped one. Although easy in theory, I kept on under-soaking my joconde because it is sometimes scary to brush so much syrup into one thin layer of cake. Then I had a piece of Opéra at Joel Robuchon’s Tokyo outlet, L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. From the side the only light beige you see is that of the coffee buttercream. The joconde is completely soaked in coffee syrup that it blends in with the ganache. When you taste a piece it reminds you exactly of having an apertiff after a late night dinner followed by a square of bittersweet chocolate with a strong cup of coffee. This is what a real Opéra is supposed to taste like and I finally understood the importance of syruping.

From that day on I put into my Opéra (approximately 13cm x 21cm) almost 240ml of syrup. Yup, that’s right, that’s one whole cup soaked into three layers of joconde. Far from being sopping wet, it needs this much syrup to bring all the flavors together, trust me! So next time you make an Opéra, make sure to soak those joconde layers really well.

Kitchen Disasters

I guess it’s only natural that once you’ve been away from something for so long it takes a little time to get back into the swing of things. For the past month and a half I’ve been in the US helping my parents pack up the house and move back to Shanghai for their retirement. The only cooking I did was frying up a few batches of donuts, and tossing the occasional salad. Once we arrived in Shanghai, food was so cheap and yummy that all we did was take-out and delivery everyday. Needless to say, I was itching to get back to my own kitchen, to be surrounded by all my kitchen gadgets and whip up a few things.

The perfect opportunity came up when Lynette asked me to be part of the photo shoot for Food & Travel magazine in Singapore. For that I needed to create two things and my thoughts immediately turned to macarons. I’ve been dragging my feet testing out the oven in my new place and this would finally put the procrastination to a stop.

I arrived back on Saturday and after a relaxing dinner I set to work on Sunday to test the first batch of macarons. Since I didn’t know how many trials I had to do before I could get it right I decided to cut the recipe by half, which will only yield 6-7 macarons per batch.

The first sign of trouble appeared when the egg white wouldn’t whip, at all. Then I realized that the Ziploc bag I used to keep the frozen egg whites was leaking so when I defrosted it in a water bath, water had seeped into the egg white. No problem, I start off with fresh egg whites, except the batter was really thin and runny and the macarons turned out like big puffy almond cookies, which tasted fine, but just couldn’t be called macarons. I chalked it up to the fresh egg whites that I used, so I decided to let the egg whites sit inside the fridge over night and try again the next day. Lo and behold, the batch the next day turn out splendidly in shape and texture, however the color was brown instead of green. That was due to too much direct heat. Nothing that can’t be solved by a mere change in oven setting, no biggie.

While whipping up batch number three I realized that the mistake I made the day before was not using fresh egg white, but not cutting down the egg white in half along with the rest of the ingredients! Duh! On to batch number four and I got tired of washing my silpats so I took out the imitation silpat I bought at Pantry Magic. The sales girl assured me that it would perform the same way as the real thing. Not! My poor lemon flavored macarons all stuck to the silpat and wouldn’t come off. I managed to salvage them by scraping them off with a pastry cutter but some of them don’t look round any more. I think it’s a shame that Pantry Magic is trying to pass off substandard product, for what is a silpat mat good for if it isn’t non-stick? After the imitation silpat incident I stuck to the Made in France versions and managed to churn out three good batches of macarons.



Now let’s talk about the raspberry hearts. They look ok in this photo, but when I first made it I forgot to put sugar in the cake batter. I guess it’s all for the better that I forgot to add the vanilla too because we were able to recycle it by having it for dinner and it tasted kind of like corn bread. Not too bad for a kitchen accident, heh?



For emergency backups, I made a batch of chocolate cupcakes just in case. They look ok but just don’t try to eat them because the icing was way too sweet for my taste.

So all in all, they turned out quite alright despite the myriad of kitchen accidents in between. But Man! Forgetting to add sugar to the cake batter?

The Donut Battle Continues

Ever since leaving the US to live abroad donut has become a luxury. Gone are the days when we buy donuts by the dozen and munch on it whenever we liked (once you hit 30’s your metabolism just won’t take that kind of abuse). Having donuts for breakfast is also out, since donut bakeries in Asia don’t open at the crack of dawn, as Dunkin donuts do. This didn’t bother us too much. Although we love a good donut it’s not necessary to have it everyday for obvious waistline reasons.

In Japan there’s a chain called Mister Donut,which sells the cutest mini (by American standard) donuts in all sorts of pretty shapes and glazes. You’d need to eat three to get a full portion but you’d also look like a greedy pig, so I order one and savor it slowly. I used to go for a food styling class once a week at night and there’s a Mr. Donut in the JR station so every week I’d look forward to my treat. We weren’t in Hong Kong long enough, plus I was too busy sampling all the yummy dim sum places and trying the entire menu at Hang Fa Lau (杏花楼) to miss donuts.

In Singapore however, donut is the latest craze. I was in the basement Raffles Place shortly after arriving in Singapore and saw a long line of people. Curious to find out what’s so popular I followed the line to the beginning, only it wasn’t the beginning. The line was so long it had to be broken up into sections and what’s this all about?Donuts! I never even got to see what the donuts looked like because the shop display case was completely empty and those people seem to be waiting for the new batches coming up. I have never seen anything like this except for Japanese ladies waiting to buy a limited edition Louis Vuitton bag on the opening day of the flagship on Omotesando.

I thought, there goes my chance of getting a donut in Singpoare when I want it, but was promptly distracted by other things such as our stupid fridge to think too much about it. Then a couple of weeks later Lynette of Palate Sensations asked me if I wanted to teach a donut-making class because there seems to be a demand for it. Although I’d never made a donut in my life, I thought, how hard could it be and set off to test recipes.

The first recipe I did was a beignet-type donut filled with raspberry jam. That turned out beautifully, although I found out that in Singapore’s high humidity condition it’s not a good idea to coat the donuts in cinnamon sugar unless you plan to eat them on the same day.


I need at least two to three recipes for a three-hour class so the next recipe I tested was a traditional glazed donut. This proved to be more difficult than I thought. For practical reasons I first tried a recipe that require no yeast and rising time. The resulting donuts were so dense it was like eating fried cakes. Then I spent a whopping $1.50 and bought a recipe on the internet which promised to be the best secret donut recipe there is. Despite the hassle of cooking and mashing a potato, this was also disappointing. Next I tried the so-called Dunkin donut recipe. By this time I’m back in the US at my parents house where spring is slowly arriving and one cannot rely on room temperature to proof yeast dough. I let the dough rise for the first time in the fridge overnight and did the second rising in a warm oven. Except I forgot how dry the air is in the US compared to Hong Kong or Singapore and the dough dried out before it had a chance to rise. My fourth attempt was equally disastrous, but that was because I had left out one ingredient from the recipe: butter (not a very smart idea). I’m now on my fifth attempt, same recipe, but with the butter. It’s unseasonably warm in DC today at 80F so the cut-out donuts are rising covered under saran wrap and a wet towel in the second-floor bedroom, next to the window. If this still doesn’t work out, I have my fallback Cook’s Illustrated recipe, which should not disappoint. Then I still have the icing to work out because they tend to run off the next day. And when I get back to Singapore I need to test the recipe again to adjust for the humidity. Gosh it’s a lot of work for a decent donut!

Enchanté

I present to you, Enchanté, my way of spreading the joy of whisking, piping, baking, and everything to do with French pastry.

When I enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu I vaguely had a plan to eventually have some sort of cake business. By the time I finished the basic level I had narrowed it down to a home-based cooking class with the occasional order-made cakes. Two years and three countries later, it has finally come true. Granted, the first actual lesson is not until the end of April but at least the website is up and I have typed up the recipes for the first lesson, in both English and Japanese!

For the first lesson, I’m doing something relatively easy but is yummy to taste and impressive to the eye too. The pineapple coconut cake is a tried and true favorite of mine, which I tend to make whenever I need to whip up a quick gift to give out. All the ingredients are pantry-ready so all I need to do is mix, bake, brush and wrap. The cake is super moist and tastes the best the next day: good for making ahead.


The recipe for the rosette chocolate cookie with ganache filling was discovered recently when we were staying in the serviced apartment before moving into our own place. With limited kitchen appliances, I needed a recipe that doesn’t involve any new purchases, and the rosette filled the bill. A bowl and a wire whisk to whip up the dough; a pastry bag with a star tip to pipe; and a baking sheet with some parchment paper plus a small saucepan to cook the cream for the ganache – Voila! You have yourself a batch of rich crumbly buttery cookies with a smooth chocolate ganache filling that's the perfect sweeness. I did modify the ganache recipe to suit Singapore’s hot climate. The original recipe for the ganache resulted in a runny mess that just would not set in the tropical temperature. Instead I made a Anglaise sauce and added gelatin to it before mixing in the chocolate. This way the ganache will hold its shape when piped so from the side you see three matching layers of pretty swirls. Minor details, I know, but then again, it’s all about the details, always.

Class schedule and reservation.

Bonbons and Truffles, Oh My!

Hey y’all, many of you already know that I have recently started my little business – Enchanté, but some of you may not know that I’m also going to be teaching some classes at a cooking school in Singapore called Palate Sensations. It’s a really cool place set up like a large home-kitchen in a historical black and white house (you’ll need to have visited Singapore to know it). Owner Lynette is an amazing lady who’s so friendly that you’ll feel right at home the minute you step inside the kitchen studio.

After a “practice run”of cooking a sushi dinner for some of Palate Sensations’ sponsors and friends, my firsts lessons at the school are going to be on chocolates! Chocolates are tricky, even under the best of circumstances, so needless to say, I’m a little nervous to be teaching in unfamiliar territory, but hey, people want to learn how to make chocolate candies and somebody’s gotta teach it.

To introduce the novice student to the art of artisan chocolates, my début workshop will consist three easy to make yet delicious chocolates:

- Pictured in the photo are easy orange flavored bonbons in three different coatings for flavor variations. They are your fail-proof recipes whenever you need to whip up a quick batch to give out as gifts.

- Now that you’ve gained some confidence making the bonbons, you will then tackle the classic ganache truffle. After seeing how easy it is to add flavors to the ganache, the only limitation to the variety of truffles you’ll be churning out is your imagination.

- Finally, tempered milk chocolate will be used to make a delightful little candy called “mendiant”: a chocolate disc studded with dried fruits and nuts. Not only is it pleasing to the eye, with Amedei’s rich milky chocolate, you will have a hard time stopping yourself from eating another one of these little treats.

I hope your interest is piqued. I assure you that chocolate-making is addictive and once you start, you simply won’t want to stop. So what are you waiting for? Give Lynette a call and sign up for the class!

Classes are held on May 12th and 16th, from 11am to 2pm. See schedule.

Be Afraid, be Very Afraid

I was at my bank yesterday, closing up one of two accounts I have and transferring all the money into the other account. Then I changed the address on that other account to our Singapore address.

The whole thing was taken care of in less than 15 minutes and not once was I asked to show my ID! I brought my two checkbooks so I knew what the account numbers were, but is that proof that I was the rightful owner of the accounts? I couldn’t believe how trusting the bank manager was. I waited and waited for him to say, “Could I see a proof of ID please?” but nothing. Are ID’s obsolete in America? It must be, because today I successfully cancelled the electricity and water service to my parents’ house without so much as offering my name.

Contrast this with the interrogation and the slew of proofs I have to present every time I make any changes concerning any kind of accounts in Asia (gas, water, electricity, you name it), the difference is quite astounding. Are we Americans too naïve or are Asians too paranoid to the point of being anal? I’m still bitter over an incident with our internet service provider in Hong Kong. When we were leaving the country, they wouldn’t even fax me a cancellation form without speaking to Jason because the account was under his name. So that was way too extreme, but maybe a little bit of vigilance could do some good for the Americans? After all, I doubt any terrorists would’ve been successful enrolling in a flight school in Hong Kong or Singapore.

Moving Pains

It's been more than a month since we moved into our new place and I have yet to go to the pool or the gym just once. It seems that all of a sudden I had a million things to take care of everyday and there never seems to be enough hours in a day. All I did, all day long was opening up boxes and putting away stuff for the first week. When that’s done and taken care of and I thought I could take a breather, other issues started to present themselves.

Among the things to be taken care of was the air conditioner that wasn’t working in the kitchen. There are two, and according to the previous owner, one AC unit was “cooling the kitchen just fine” (her words). Well, not if you are doing pastry work. Fortunately, fixing the AC turned out to be quite fast and painless and along the way I sign a maintenance contract to have our nine AC units checked and cleaned and pampered every three months.

The next item that broke turned out to be a lot more stubborn and more resistant to repairs. Before I go on, I must say that I have never really trusted German products. They have all the high-tech design features and perform like a dream when they do work, but once they break down, it’s down right impossible to fix them, and they often do break down, quite unpredictably. Jason and I go through the same debate every time we move to a new country and try to buy a car. He’s all for design and performance whereas I value reliability above all else. So far I have always been able to steer him to buy a Japanese car, but this time I finally gave in and agreed to a German car.

Anyway, back to the piece of #@$% appliance that broke down. It was the less than three year old Gaggenau refrigerator that came with the apartment. Top of the line, with a price tag that allows you to buy a decent car in some countries, it all of a sudden decided to turn itself into a wine fridge. It would take six repairs, spanning almost six weeks to get it to work. First it was too warm in the fridge compartment that there was almost no point in using it, then it was too cold and everything got frozen, including eggs and milk. The repairmen could never seem to get the temperature just so. Actually, the verdict is still out on the result of the sixth repair, since it always takes a few days to show its true colors after each repair. It has gotten to the point where I don’t even know if I should blame Gaggenau for making such a crappy product (I mean, who’s ever heard of a fridge breaking down after only three years?) or the incompetence of the repairmen. After the third visit, it would take me an average of a week and at least five phone calls to get the guys to come again. When they do come, they look so grumpy as if it’s my fault that they weren’t doing their jobs properly. Well, now that I’m back in the US, if the fridge breaks down again, Jason will have to deal with them.

Needless to say, after this saga, Jason’s agreed to buy a Lexus. I am glad he could finally see things my way, but I just wish the convincing process didn’t have to be such a nightmare.