More Summer Recipe: Skillet Cake

I looked at my new Nambu Tekki cast iron pan and wanted to do something with it, that’s when I decided to make a simple skillet cake, something that is easy to make and I can enjoy all day – from breakfast to afternoon snacks to dessert. This is arguably one of the easiest cake to make – as long as you could mix and stir you should be able to master this rather quickly.

Afternoon Tea with Champagne

There's no shortage of promotions for the newest afternoon tea offerings all year long in just around every corner in town from all sorts of places. The latest I had the opportunity to check out was the one at Island Shangri-la for the new silver jubilee afternoon tea menu in collaboration with the champagne house Perrier-Jouet, as part of the hotel's 25th anniversary celebration. I was here about a year ago for a similar occasion and I am glad to be back at this elegant dining room at the back of Restaurant Petrus on top of the hotel, joining a dozen or so people for this special tasting session on a weekend afternoon just before the menu was launched.

Caramel Icecream with Salted Egg Yolks

This recipe is based on a dessert I recently made when my friends came over for dinner, and was inspired by a similar version I had at a restaurant not long ago. Salted caramel has long been my flavor of choice when I want to fix up something quick and easy, and it's proved to be a crowd-pleaser time and time again. But this time I was serving this with a slight twist, putting grated salted egg yolks on top of the scoop of icecream.

Risotto as Dessert

Part of my New Year Eve dinner menu paid tribute to some of the memorable dishes I had over the past year - I thought this was a good way to end the wonderful year with. When I was thinking what to do for dessert, I remembered the impressive bowl of rice pudding served by Chef Stephane Jego at L'Ami Jean in Paris when we were there in the summer. It looked ordinary and unassuming, but that combined with the sauce was one of the best desserts I have tasted. So I decided to replicate that with a touch of my own, bringing in the element of fusion.

Ritz Carlton x Godiva Afternoon Tea

The hiatus from 9-to-5 work afforded me to do things I wouldn't be able to do before - like having a leisurely afternoon tea on a weekday. Ritz Carlton Hong Kong is running a 3-month-long promotion with a crossover afternoon tea menu at Cafe 103 starting in October, featuring the chocolates and goodies from Godiva, and we were given a sneak preview one weekday afternoon.

Let's make some brownies!

Many have said the most difficult part in baking is the precision in measurement. Well no doubt there are solid grounds for that reasoning since baking is more of a science and there are certain rules that need to be strictly followed, especially for stuff like bread or certain types of cakes. But there are baked goods that are more forgiving than the others - and brownies is one of them. Of course every small things you changed will still make a noticeable difference in the end products, but in brownies, those differences are often acceptable. Maybe that's why I love making them at home since there's less pressure on getting everything right all the time.

Dinner for Two (Part 3) - Heart-shaped Dessert

Originally I wasn't planning to make any dessert after our previous 2 courses of ravioli and chicken - thought we would finish the dinner with some cheese instead. But at the very last minute I changed my mind - after all it didn't sound right not having something sweet for Valentine's Day dinner so I squeezed an extra course in using simply ingredients I had in hand.

Cooking at home: When Mexican met Mediterranean

I am planning for a dinner at home for 8 last weekend and I wanted to make use of saffron which we received from a friend after her recent trip to Iran. While a number of countries produce this exotic space known for its special fragrance and color, particularly those around the Mediterranean, it's often said that those from Iran were of the highest quality and the most sort after. Then I came across a recipe on a magazine for a Mexican dessert known as "Tres Leches" cake (which literally means "Three Milks" in Spanish) so I figured it would be interesting to match it with a saffron icecream to bring some sassy exoticity to the menu, matching creamy richness with the unique fragrance; a contrast of off-white and bright yellow colors; a fusion of Mexican and Mediterranean inspired cooking.

Recipe: Saffron Icecream

The second part of the dessert is the saffron icecream. Saffron has this mistakenly exotic fragrance, either you like it or hate it, and while it's originally in bright red color, it will turned into a golden yellow color when it's soaked in water (or any liquid you happen to cook with). That's why it's often used as dye for cloth in ancient times as well.

Recipe: Tres Leches Cake

Tres Leches literally means three milks in Spanish, because three kinds of milks were used - evaporated milk , condensed milk and the regular whole milk. We Hong Kongers are more familiar with evaporated milk (花奶/淡奶) and condensed milk (煉奶) for their wide use in local street foods and drinks such as milk tea and toasts, but they are almost as common as a cooking ingredient in many Latin American dishes. So for those from overseas, they should be readily available in supermarkets stocking Asian or Latin American grocery items - try find them in those specialty spots.

Desserterie in Singapore - 2am: dessertbar

I always like the idea of a true desserterie - not just those cafes with a few tarts and macarons on offer, or brunch spot that sells a few bakery items sort of places, but a full service restaurant with focus on desserts and desserts alone. That's why I was interested to check out 2am:dessertbar in Holland Village in Singapore when I was in town last month.

Holland V - as the region was known as by locals - is a vibrant neighborhood with shopping malls, rows of trendy shops, restaurants and bars that open til late. It's accessible by MRT but we opted for a taxi ride after dinner, which was a good 15 minutes from where we were staying. 

(Vegetarian) Cooking at Home: Strawberries with Mascarpone Cream

I love Mascarpone cheese - it's so versatile. Of course, its mild sweetness made it an obvious choice for desserts, but I occasionally used it for savory dishes with some success too in the past (for example, it's good for some cream-based sauces for meat or pasta - you got a more interesting flavor then just double cream)

For desserts, most people relate the cheese to tiramisu in which whipped mascarpone cheese was mixed with egg whites and layed with liquor and coffee-dipped ladyfingers, but I also love the combination of hulled strawberries and mascarpone - it's creamy with a hint of sweetness for a subtle and classy dessert (not something overly rich or like a sugar bomb)

Cooking at home: Candied Kumquats

I found these beautiful kumquats in a farmers' market recently and thought they are perfect for my spring cooking projects. Kumquats are one of the few citrus fruits that you can eat as a whole, with their thin skins on. The slightly bitter zest combined with sweet, juicy flesh created this unique, complex tangy taste that are good on its own, or along side with other food, in savory dishes or desserts.