Category Archives: Desserts and baking

Shokupan/ aka Hokkaido milk bun

There is a kind of pull apart bread we eat in Mumbai / Bombay called pav .this recipe doesn’t taste anything like that.

What the$#@&-++, you must be thinking , why bother mentioning it then . because the Hokkaido milk bun hmb for short looks like pav ladi we get in India but tastes far better and is akin to a pav wearing foundation and make up sitting in a fancy car.

So the way to make it is also diffferent slightly more complex. We take a small amount of flour and milk and cook it to a paste. What this does is allow the rest of the dough when finished to get more soft and fluffy.( Because of complex chemical reactions..,you dont want to know all the details.

  • Flour 450+50 g
  • Milk 225+100 ml
  • Sugar 10 g
  • Salt-10 g
  • Yeast active dry-10 g

so now once we have weighed our stuff ,we measure out flour and take 50 g separate and cook it with 100 ml milk till it gets to be like a gel and gluey. This is called Yudane in Japan and tangzhong in china.we are not going to sit and examine which one came first or why they even work. Suffice it to say that they do.

Then you add the rest of the liquid ( milk ) in this case to the gluey mix and whisk it up .cool it till gets blood warm then add the sugar salt flour and yeast in that order.dont change the order otherwise you could kill the yeast.Also don’t put in yeast in hot dough which also is the way of the seppuku( honorable suicide ), because yeast will die above 50 odd degree and you will be left with a stone to pelt at your enemies .Bam blam..whiz..

Add 20 g of butter and 20 ml oil to dough and knead it in

Ok so we have arrived at that happy moment where the dough has been amalgamated and yeast is ready to multiply and make CO2 to make holes and allow your dough to rise. For this at home what I do is heat up water in the microwave and keep the dough next to it .( In a bowl).

Then preheat your oven to 190 deg C…the USA guys have to do a google search to find out what temp they need to achieve. Ok sorry it’s about 425 F.

Then the big piece of dough you knock back or de gas and divide into 20 pieces ..

Shape them into round balls and elongate them slightly.

Put back in the microwave with water till they get nicely proofed.

Then brush with milk and melted butter  and bake for approximately 15-18 mins

 

Rich Fruit cake- syrup style

I can safely say that this will make you one medium sized cake about 8 inch round cooking time about 45-50 mins , preparation around 15 , depends on how organised you are.100%guaranteed to satisfy or your money back

  • Flour-90g
  • Almond powder 10 g( I’ve said 10 but you could go higher and reduce the flour a bit )
  • cornflour-10 g
  • cinnamon powder- 2g
  • dry ground ginger- 2 g
  • Allspice- 1 g
  • Nutmeg- pinch
  • Baking soda- 4 g
  • salt- 1 g
  • mixed nuts- 125 g(Almond, walnuts, cashews)

Ive separated the dry from the wet ingredients. so as to create a demarcation and make it as simple as it can be to make a delish cake for little effort.

  • water-90 ml
  • mixed dry fruit(raisins, dates, apricots, dont buy a ready mix)-200 g
  • brown/ raw sugar- 110 g
  • oil- 45 g( yes by weight)
  • butter -45 g
  • eggs -2
  • vanilla extract- a little
  • brandy or dark rum- 45 ml+ a bit more to brush on or baste after baking
  • Ok now to begin the process.First preheat oven to 170 C and prepare your cake tin( this you always do first, REMEMBER THIS)
  • Heat the water with the oil, butter and fruits and sugar . Take off the heat and add brandy and vanilla. ( you can also put grated orange zest if you like.COOL DOWN before you add the eggs or you will have scrambled eggs which are ok, but not in a fruit cake.
  • Add the eggs , mix well and fold in the dry ingredients, and combine well.
  • Pour into your prepared tin and tap on the bench to make it even.
  • bake for about 45-50 mins till it is cooked but not dry.
  • when it comes out of the oven , hold in the tin for a few mins then demold and brush with some more alcohol.(its worth it, Truly.) The photo of the cake below has been cooked with kaffir lime infused rum and basted with bourbon.
  • It was the best fruit cake in the world but that’s just me blowing my own trumpet..

Cheesecake like no other ..baked not set.

makes about 4 x 8 inch springform tins

We used to make this cheesecake which was like manna from heaven, created by our pastry chef Noel . He was a master craftsman and I wish I had worked more with him, but usually I would be getting hammered with 900 odd people for breakfast day in day out ..followed by 400-500 in our beachside restaurant which was meant to test our staying power .. literally..but that’s a story for another time we need to get moving on the cheesecake which is a 24 hr process in itself,

You mix and make the cheesecake today and then keep it overnight to set slowly. Do NOT BE TEMPTED TO DEMOLD ON DAY you make it..it will be ruined beyond your wildest imagination..I know because I’ve tried it.

  • Cream cheese , Philadelphia is the best , but a good alternative can work too- 2.2 kg( I know it’s a lot so it’s a good idea to make a quarter of the recipe to give you one medium sized cake tin( springform please or else gets difficult to demold)
  • egg whole-6 ea
  • egg yolk-12 ea
  • sugar-690 g( this makes about 36 -portions)
  • corn flour/ custard powder-80 g
  • sour cream-180g
  • vanilla essence- to your liking don’t put too little because then will smell eggy- 10-15 ml depending on strength
  • blueberries frozen to put inside.( Makes it look like a blue veined cheese but tastes a 100 times better and doesn’t smell at all..win win for all–150 g
  • mixed berries to make into sauce to serve on the side—i ill put on a separate post this bit
  • biscuit crumbs- use your favourite ones – about 150 g per tin
  • butter – makes it better helps to bind the biscuit crumbs– 50 g per tin
  1. First thing s take out the cream cheese about an hour before you start, makes it nice and soft and easy to mix.
  2. then preheat your oven to 125 C., thats very low heat , because what are making is really delicate thing.
  3. then line the spring form mold base with baking paper, and mix the biscuit crumbs and butter and cover the base of the mold.press down on the base to make it a bit more compact and pop in the fridge to set
  4. cream the cheese, with sugar and corn starch and slowly incorporate those eggs..one at a time..
  5. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix one last time to get it all well blended but smooth not grainy.
  6. pour over your prepared 1 tin or 4 depending on how much qty you made.
  7. Bake at that very low heat , in a water bath, remember i said this is a delicate, this baby needs TLC
  8. we need to go for 80 minutes of baking and midway through check if the top is getting too brown then cover it with piece of  foil.
  9. once its done the top might look a bit cracked and so on, thats fine its an artisan product not factor made with lots of stabilisers and starches to make it shiny.
  10. cool down and keep overnight in fridge to set.

Step 5 3/4- is to add your blueberries if you fancy them, if not make plain. I also at times spike this with baileys irish cream or amarula to make it even more divine.

Biscotti -Tutto E bene

I had never ever heard of a biscotti till quite late .It was when we went to our flagship hotel in Jaipur called Rajvilas, a hotel which was built be of a palatial kind of opulence and luxury which was unimaginable at the time circa 1997

quite a bit later in maybe 2011 when I was in NZ teaching Culinary arts/ cookery at Whitireia Polytechnic ,in Auckland I introduced this to teach my students something which can be eaten as a biscuit ( cooked twice – that’s what the name implies).

Eggs 2 ea

Sugar-150 g
.vanilla essence 2 ml
Orange flower water 1 ml
Plain flour 150 g
Almond powder 50 g
Baking powder 3 g
Orange or mandarin zest – 1
Cocoa nibs 20 g, don’t worry if you don’t have them..
Almond or cashew or pistachios if U are feeling rich – 50 g soak in warm water for about 5 mins.this is so when these are baked they are fairly easy to slice .
Whisk eggs and sugar and the 2 essences .
Sieve or mix well the flour ,baking powder and almond powder .
Add zest and nuts (nibs )and mix all the things together.easy peasy.
Form a log and bake at 160-175 c 15- 18mins.
Cool down and freeze for long term storage or
Cool down and slice thin, use a serrated bread knife for the job .(My favourite one is the Fdick one ,which I used to get from House of knives in Auckland. Go pay them a visit someday .The Fdick range of knives is awesome and Shannon one of main man there is very knowledgeable about knives .He will be able sort you out.)
Back to our biscotti which need the second baking to finish the job and be crunchy and very moreish.

 

Bake at 165 c for 12-15 mins.I love these as a crisp garnish for a dessert or a snack when you don’t want something very sweet

 

 

Tiramisu

Tiramisu is delightful italian dessert made from sponge fingers layered with a kind of mousse/ cream of mascarpone , eggs an cream. This is my evolved version which has baileys or amarula in the cream and kahlua in the sponge fingers. works very well and tastes mind blowing.

So how this works is you have to make a cream mix with eggs, sugar , mascarpone and cool down then whisk in the cream and mix them togther without overworking the cream or it will split. 

Then you dip the sponge fingers in the coffee syrup.(coffeee , hot water and kahlua), but you only dip not make mushy. then in a container or a glass, you carefully arrange them in layers. one layer of sponge, then cream and so on.

I have made this so many times  from 10- to a few hundred portions a work, that these days i dont even have to measure anything, but thats me, Dont be like me, get a proper measuring scale and weigh it. if you want less or more of something go ahead, for things like sugar it can but not for everything. If you are stuck, i can demonstrate via ZOOm or some other medium too

Sponge fingers 400 gms- usually 1 packet
Mascarpone cheese 1 kgs
Eggs 4 nos
sugar  120 gms
bailey irish cream – 30 ml or more if like it boozy
Kahlua or another quality coffee liquer 50 ml

coffee powder-10 gms /2 t
Whipping or thickened cream  250 ml

  • Whisk eggs over double boiler till thick and fluffy.
  • Combine with softened mascarpone.
  • Add in baileys irish cream / amarula.
  • Whisk cream and fold into above mixture .
  • Dissolve coffee powder with hot water and dip sponge fingers inside.
  • Layer sponge fingers and cheese mix. keep in the fridge/ freezer to set 
  • Dust with cocoa powder before service.
Making the sabayon