Danish Dream Cake ~ Drommekage fra Brovst

It's been a hectic week! My dad involved in a car accident last Friday. He was hit by a car when on his way to work .Luckily, nothing serious happened but both of his legs are swollen. NO major injury and I am glad he's in full recovery now. Have to thank hubby for driving 5 hours straight heading back to my hometown just to see my dad. ((hugs)) So, it's about time to relax and have a cup of coffee with some tasty baked goodies at home this weekend. I found this easy & divine cake after google for some time and can't resist without giving it a go.

(recipe adapted here)

Ingredients for sponge :
(A)
4 eggs
210gm  sugar
1 tspn  vanilla paste / essence

(B)
250gm  all purpose flour
3 tspn   baking powder

(C)
50gm  butter, melted
200ml  milk

Method :
(1) beat ingredients (A) till fluffy & pale then stir in ingredients (B) alternately with ingredients (C) till everything combined.
(2) pour batter to a 9x13" tray lined with greaseproof paper & bake at preheated oven 190'C for about 20-25 mins.
(3) prepare the top mixture while the cake is still in the oven.

Ingredients for coconut topping :
300gm  fresh young coconut, grated
250gm  brown sugar
70ml   milk
1 tspn  vanilla paste
125gm   butter, softened
(combine all ingredients to form soft paste)

(4) spread the coconut mixture to the top of the cake once it's ready, straight from the oven.
(5) then place it back to the oven and bake for another 10 mins at 220'C.
(6) once it's done, cooled & keep refrigerated overnight before slicing.

OLALA.... the cake turned out great. Such irresistible aroma. I found some blogger heat the coconut topping to thicken the mixture before spreading it onto the cake. That's a great idea as well. I'll have to try that the next time.

The cake is really moist & smooth. Not to mention about the topping.....absolutely addictive! This cake is best to keep refrigerated before serving. Hope you guys will love it too! Happy weekend.

Croissant ~ Pain Au Chocolate

Bonjour....croissant pour le petit déjeuner n'importe qui? haha..... I wonder if the translator working or not ! Can anyone tells me? haha.... I can't even pronounce those words correctly...it sounds like my tongue is fighting between my lips. Gosh ! haha.....  My younger brother speaks really well. He took French subject during his college time in Singapore. Anyway, I'm glad I still be able to spend time for some homemade croissants lately. Did you notice that croissant & Danish pastry do look quite the same ? But it is not ! Danish pastry is a rich dough which contained high amount of butter & sugar and it taste sweet & soft. While croissant is a lean dough which contained less amount of butter & sugar, and it taste savoury & crispy. So, are you ready for this!

(recipe adapted from here)
Ingredients :
(A)
500gm  all purpose flour
160ml  water
160ml  milk
1 TB  yeast
2-1/2 TB  sugar
2 tspn  salt
40gm  margarine

(B)
*250gm  margarine, thinly sliced

Method :
(1) combine ingredients (A) into a big bowl and stir to form soft dough.
(2) knead to smooth and let to rest for an hour or till double in size.
(3) next, punch dough to release air then wrap with plastic sheet and keep refrigerated overnight.
(4) then follow by the folding method here, on the next day.
(5) again keep the folded dough refrigerated for overnight, soon after folding completed.
(6) finally, place dough to a slightly floured working table on the next day and rest for 20 mins.
(7) roll dough into 24x48" flat sheet, divide into 4 equal cuts and again halved each portion into triangle shape.

(8) now, roll each dough up like Swiss roll and place them to baking tray to rest for about 60-80 mins.

(9) finally, bake at preheated oven 200'C for 10 mins and then 180'C for another 10 mins, or till nicely brown.

WALAAAaaaa.....here comes my babies! Gorgeous brown as you see here. I'm a bit sad cause the bread came out too soft & fluffy (What the heck!). Yeah, I'm expecting something else actually. I should have follow the quantity of water as given which is 140ml each. I added in 40ml extra ! YIKES!

I actually ended up making 4 croissants and 4 Pain Au Chocolate. If time allows, I'll make one more batch. And my kids are asking for more Pain Au Chocolate. lol.
*
I'm sending this to Yeastspotting @ Wild Yeast Blog.

Natural Remedy ~ Preserved Calamansi With Sour Plum

I'm sure many Malaysians already tried this sweet version preserved calamansi with salted sour plum drinks before. It's a very delicious drink. Or you may easily find the concentrated juices selling at some supermarket with reasonable price. However, I wish to make my own though. This preserved calamansi with salted sour plum drinks is best to take when heat wave hits. It helps to cure sore throat, headache & stomach relief. There's actually another salty version preserved calamansi but we prefer the sweet version the most.

Here what you need :

1 kg  calamansi
1 pkt (400gm)  rock sugar
2 cup  light brown sugar
200gm  preserved salted sour plum, halved
1 large jar

Wash the calamansi then roughly dry them with a kitchen tower. Next, throw them to a baking tray and bake at preheated oven 100'C for about 20-25 mins. Be caution not to burn the fruits. The fruits should came out warm and dry.  Or you can sun-dry under the sun for a couple of hours. Some blogger choose to steam the fruits instead of baking them then sun dry under the sun. I found that baking method is much better and fuss free.

Then make a small cut at the middle of the fruit and squeeze out the juice & seeds to a separate bowl. Later,.stuffed in preserved salted sour plum and remove seeds from the juice. And set aside.

Now, line a layer of calamansi on the bottom of the jar and cover the fruits with rock sugar & some brown sugar. Repeat everything again till everything completed, except the final layer of sugar. Then pour in the juices. Finally, spread the top layer with sugar till everything completely covered.

It's best to cover the jar with a plastic sheet before putting on the lid. Here's how it looks ! Finally, set aside to rest for fermentation at least 10 days. The longer the fermentation the better ! Oooops...and remember to shake or turn your jar around once awhile to keep the top layer wet all times.

TA...DA.... This is how it looks after 10 days of fermentation. Clean & neat ! I can't wait to give it a try. Now, all you need to do is.....dig out 2 pcs of calamansi & some syrup to a mug, then add in hot water. Mix well & serve. Of coz, you can also serve it cold but hot drinks helps better to cure sore throat, headache & stomach relief. And do take note that you may sweat like crazy after the hot drinks. Enjoy guys !