Pineapple Tarts for Layla

Layla from Multiply requested for 50pcs of home-made Pineapple Tarts for herself before she delivers her baby anytime soon.

So went over to her place after work to deliver the goodies to her. Hopefully she will enjoy them.

Cheezy Tart Worm

And since there were a lot of Chocolate Trufle left from yesterday's experiment, sent some over to my aunt's place, which is near to Layla's.

Busy Weekend

We went to Orchard today cos it's been a while since we stepped into Borders. Furthermore dear hubby needs to complete his Dark Towers collection. It was fortunate that I remembered there is an open carpark next to Wheelock Place, otherwise we planned to park the van behind Shaw Towers, which would be unfortunate cos it started to rain while we had lunch at Burger King.

While at Borders managed to get myself a cookbook (with 20% discount), which hopefully the recipes will be experimented out soon. Sometimes I feel that when I buy myself a cookbook, it's just to satisfy my 'hungry eyes' looking at those yummy pictures...

Anyways, dear hubby managed to complete his collection & bought himself 2 music CDs - Oasis & Nickelback.

After a quick lunch, drove to a baking supplies shop to view some new stocks before hurrying down to National Stadium to get tickets for tonight's match - Singapore vs Malaysia. Dear hubby will be going with his mates. Tonight would be his so-called 'bachelor night'.

So when he's out, I made an impulsive decision to bake Chocolate Trufle Cake, which turned out to be disappointing. A feeling of regret crept over me as I expected it to be really good. But I learned what went wrong & what I should amend in the recipe though. Perhaps I could try again.... or not.... depends.

Overall, today has been quite relaxing. I am so not looking forward to tomorrow = work.

Recipes for Lemon Meringue Pie & Baked Potatoes

Lemon Meringue Pie (using a 25cm/10" pie plate)

Rich Short Crust Pastry:

165g flour

150g pastry margarine, chilled & cubed

2 tblsp icing sugar

1 1/2 tblsp iced water

Method:

1) Process the flour in a food processor with icing sugar & butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs (also known as the rubbing-in method). Add iced water; process just until the mixture comes together in a ball.

2) Turn pastry out onto a lightly floured surface; knead it gently until smooth & press into a 15-cm disc. Wrap in clingwarp & chill for 30mins.

3) Preheat oven to 180C. Roll out pastry to a 33-cm (13") round about 5mm thick. Pierce the base several times with a fork.

4) Line the pastry with baking papaer & half-fill with dried beans or rice. Bake for 15mins. Remove paper & beans or rice & cook for further 10mins or until light golden & aromatic. Leave pastry case to cool then spoon filling into it, smoothing the top.

Filling:

170g caster sugar

60g cornflour

Finely grated zest of 3 lemons

80ml lemon juice, strained

185ml milk

3 egg yolks

Method:

1) Put the caster sugar & cornflour in a asaucepan. Combine the lemon zest & lemon juice & the milk & add to the pan. Stir constantly over a medium heat until mixture comes to the boil. Remove from heat, add egg yolks & mix well to combine.

*You can choose to chill the filling for 2hrs if preferred.

Meringue:

3 egg whites

Pinch of cream of tartar

80g caster sugar

Method:

1) Whisk the egg whites in a bowl with the cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add sugar, a spoonful at a time, beating well after each addition. The meringue should be thick & shiny.

2)Spread the meringue over the lemon filling, making sure it forms a seal all around the pastry shell to prevent filling overheating (which could cause it to separate).

3) Bake for 10mins or until the meringue is a light golden colour.

Baked Potatoes

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1kg potatoes, peeled & thinly sliced

100g gruyere cheese

2 cups fresh milk

1/2 cup thick cream

ground black pepper to taste

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

4 tblsp butter

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 190C

2) Bruise the garlic & spread on a 35x23x5cm baking tray. Arrange potato slices in layers on the tray to resemble fish scales. Sprinkle cheese on top. Repeat the layering & sprinkling of cheese until all the potatoes are used up.

3) In another bowl, mix the fresh milk, thick cream, ground black pepper, salt & nutmeg. Pour the mixture onto the potatoes on the baking tray. Drop butter on top of the mixture & bake in the oven for 45 minutes until dry & the potatoes are golden brown.

Lemon Meringue Pie, Baked Potatoes & Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake

Contemplating if I should go ahead with my plan to surprise hubby with his request - Lemon Meringue Pie. It has been ages since I baked that. Furthermore I'm not interested in pies.

Last weekend he asked me to try something new as he's "had enough of cheesecakes". So will try to do it today. Surprise because if it didn't turn out good, he wouldn't know I made the pie at all.

Since I'm awake early, will try to do the pastry first. The thing about making pie is that it has to be baked blind, which I find it troublesome. Only after the pastry is cooked & out of the oven then the filling was made. Once everything has been cooled, made the meringue. If you look at the recipe it is simple to make. I guess my mentality was set that "pies are troublesome to make", therefore I find it..... troublesome (can't find any other words to describe my feeling towards making pies).

Lemon Meringue Pie

Cut it up & tried but couldn't find the satisfaction. But was it the pie or me? I leave it to hubby to judge.

After dear son's lunch, remembered that the princess asked for a Winx Club schoolbag. So have to remember to only go to Metro and Kiddy Palace. Without an objective, I can end up window-shopping for hours. I still have other 'projects' to do after this. Metro has a few but not the one which I'm looking for. So went to Kiddy Palace with son in tow. Saw it but the price...... I was so tempted to buy the Strawberry Shortcake as the price is lesser compared to the Winx. But this is her bag, not mine. Although I had to fork out $23.90 for a mere bag (it's not payday yet, you know), I think she would really love it. It would be a nice surprise for her when she get back from school. She was indeed delighted when she opened the plastic bag.

Okay, let her have her moments with the new bag. I still have things to do in the kitchen.

Next is the Baked Potato. According to the recipe, this is derived from France. Today is the second time I'm making this. Original recipe does not contain any meat, I added minced meat in as it tasted better.

Baked Potatoes

While the potatoes were in the oven, I quickly whipped up my latest addition to the "Dessert-a-Cup" family - Chocolate Hazelnut Cheese Cups / Cake.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake

It had been a long day. Now time to get dear daughter to sleep.

Between full-time job & passion

Made an appointment with my bro to meet up at HarbourFront Centre on Sunday (as he's working at VivoCity) to pass me the Pineapple Tarts, which dear mum has made. These are samples for good friend Rohaya's collegues for the upcoming Chinese New Year - traditional Pineapple Tarts & Cheezy Tart Worm.

So re-packed them into smaller containers so that more people can sample them (hehe ; )). Gave some to my boss on Monday for sampling too, in case she's looking for someone to make these. And coincidentally she is. But no obligations of course.

I went to town during lunch hour to check out a baking supplies shop. Surprisingly this shop sells the stuff at reasonable prices compared to another shop which is also in town. Furthermore, this place is very accessible, which is good so I don't have to rely on dear hubby to drive me. Spent about half an hour after checking their products & pricing, & got some really nice decorations for my goodies.

Bus-stop is within walking distance & while waiting for the bus to arrive, I look down the road & wondered if I should buy lunch as well. Cos the bus I'm taking will stop right in front of my office & where do I go to get my food? Down the road is Liang Seah St, where there is this well-known coffee-shop selling Chinese noodles and such. Halal of course & the food is great & cheap. Never tried to remember the name of the coffee-shop although been there so many times. It's located right opposite Swensen's Bugis Junction. Ordered take-away Lor Mee, without chilli, as the last time I ate it with spice my mouth felt as if I've undergone plastic surgery.

After work, went to get some baking supplies for my new 'creation'. Then waited for dear hubby to fetch since it's convenient for him (I assume). I don't mind driving myself tired since I'm OFF tomorrow.

Dear daughter will be going to school tomorrow after 3 days of resting due to flu last week.