KBB#30: rosemary cheese spritz cookies

this morning, i woke up with a strange feeling and curiosity. it may sound cheesy or cliche but i often dream about this person whom i haven't met again since such a long long time. there was once superstition that says somebody is missing you when you dreamed about him/her. do you believe it? or is it just us who miss them, lol. this things, the dream and the superstition, are somehow disturbing me. however, everything should still go on normally today. so, without getting too long talking about the dream i had last night, let me give you this cookies..

this cookies were kbb challenge for this month. the theme is cheese and this cookies mainly consist of it and of course butter. when i first time read the recipe, i was kinda eager to try this recipe asap. the reason is basically because this is savory cookies and it has nutmeg and rosemary in it. i bet it would taste awesome. and i was right, it tastes awesome!

my family loves this cookies like crazy because it has the richness of the cheese. to be precise, this cookies almost taste like eating a creamy pasta dish, so lovely! i just can't stop myself after the first bite, i really want to keep eating it. so for all of you who loves savory cookies, this one might be your next favorite recipe. *wink*

a late torta pasqualina

i know that it maybe late, completely late for sure.. but i just couldn't keep this post not being published. actually, this was KBB's challenge last month, we had to do a savory baking. indeed, some of us were going to celebrate easter earlier this month, so we were all dared to make this (rumor has it) traditional italian easter tart.

however, i wasn't really positive about how this tart might taste like. what i did thought was that it would taste a little weird on my tongue.. guess why?! because here in Indonesia, we rarely eat spinach with cheese. but seeing all the history i've made with foods i've been eating all my life, i never had any problem with italian food. oh, sorry, i had.. :) it was salad with arugula and rare meat. i would never eat that again. but this Torta Pasqualina, i was also curious about how it would taste. turns out, all my anticipation on whether i will like it or not must change into an anticipation of how many inches my waistline would increase after eating it. i love it! perhaps because of it, i will be making spinach quiche quite often in my kitchy.

but i know, some of you might just be as curious as me when i was first hearing its name. what is torta pasqualina? torta pasqualina is so sexy to say, torrrrta pasqualina. i always always always love hearing spanish and italian language. i wish i had some chances to learn those languages soon. okay, back to torta pasqualina, it is some sort of tart, made from 7 layers of phyllo pastry in the bottom, then a thick layer of spinach - eggs - spices - and milk mixture, then a heaven of cheesy layer, and closed with another 7 layers of phyllo. not forgetting to mention the 10 special whole eggs pour into the cheesy layer just as it is. as the tart baked, the eggs would become hard boiled eggs. LOVE IT!

KBB#26: panettone

hello everyone, it feels great to be back from my unofficial hiatus last month. let's start this month with last month's KBB challenge. we were expected to make a traditional italian christmas bread. yay! panettone! feel so satisfied making this bread. it is surprisingly good for my taste because usually i didn't like fruit cake or raisin bread but this one is an exception.

at first, i really wanted to excuse my self from joining this panettone challenge. but deep inside my heart i still wanted to make it so much. so until the day before the last day (yeah it sounds confusing..) of November, i decided to make this beautiful panettone by skipping my Wednesday class. hahaha. i did it for the sake of panettone! i made it half a day and i wouldn't be able to do it if i didn't skip class. i hope nobody would punish me for this ;)

fortunately, the result is soo great.. that is why i feel so satisfied with it, at least my sacrifice for skipping class was worth it. i heard some of other's panettone didn't rise in the oven or even when it was being proofed because this bread is not the usual kind of white bread, this is called the rich bread dough which contains so many fat in it. let me share my experience below.. promise you that today i will give you more details on the directions. i didn't think my bread would rise as well when i proofed it, but suddenly when i baked them, they were like poof rising to the top and cracked on the center. they were so beautiful i can't even believe my self made it. so, any of you tempted to make it, let's wait no more and read the recipe below.. :D

KBB#25: happy birthday kbb

hello again, i am so shock to know that this month i only write 2 posts. just two?! where's the promise i made to all of you saying i will be able to post maybe 5-7 posts on this new college semester? uh, sorry dear reader and dear foodie-blogger friends. i am kinda busy with my jobs now.. (feel so cool stating it, lol). i am organizing and preparing for my client's birthday next saturday, so it feels a little more hectic in my mind. and also, there are some orders, yay! long lists of orders. so thankful for it though.. :)

however, this is the post to close this month.. it's KBB's special chalenge, KBB's turning four! yay! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DEAREST BAKING CLUB! this year, KBB celebrates its birthday party in a British style, we have a high tea party. so, to complete the party we've been trying many recipes to make and present one very famous tea accompaniment. guess what?! scones it is.

when i first read the recipe, what came straight to my imagination is a chocolate scones either with chocolate chips or chocolate chunks. but then i used a chocolate chips and i'm not satisfied with it, because if i want to make a chocolate scones then i had to make the batter sweeter by adding more sugar (which i didn't do). so the scones i made, taste plain with some chocolate chips, weird for my liking. lol. the only thing i could do to save this scones was by taking all the chips out and sandwiched the scones with my favorite pairs. cream cheese and blueberry jam, who would say no to it?! perfect match! just like apple and cinnamon. and i ended up eating all the scones, four to be exact, with blueberry jam and cream cheese. yum!

kbb#24: rich chocolate tart

today, i will present you a chocolate treat. this rich chocolate tart was KBB's challenge for this July. i can guarantee you this tart is so sinfully delicious. but what makes this post special is because today i'm gonna tell you something a little personal about me and also this blog, it has something related with chocolate.

chocolate is almost everyone's favorite ingredient or food. if you've been following my posts these past years, maybe you've known that i am not a huge fan of chocolate. i like chocolate, almost love it, but not crazy with it unlike someone i know really well. i have a special someone who loves chocolate so much and again.. if you've read all my posts labeled under chocolate, i think this person is always being mentioned in each and every chocolate post. lol. the problem here, me who don't love chocolate too much automatically not really often make something related with chocolate, while S. is always waiting for a chocolate treat. S. is indeed a very important person in my culinary journey and the one i really don't like to disappoint with any foods i make.

this food blog, could be established mostly because of S., to be honest i am a girl who spend too much time thinking and hesitating in making decision. at first, i was just too afraid to make a food-blog, i thought i wasn't qualified enough to join this amazing world, but S. supported me and forced me to take that step and keep on moving forward. and here i am, quite proud of what i've done. until now, S. still supported me to make progresses in this culinary world and i'm overwhelmed with those supports. it really means so much for me. so.. to make this long story short, i would like to make this post and also this chocolate tart as a tribute for S.

but for all of you my dear readers anywhere you are, it doesn't mean that i don't wanna share this treat with you as well. there's a lot of slices there, you can enjoy it too.. :)

KBB#23: Cheesy Fun

hello again my dear readers, too bad i have to say that this month i could only give you two posts. i am really keeping up with my college's projects these past weeks. i am doing two projects at a time and the deadline is next week. however, the results are pretty satisfying for me. i am feeling quite content even though i have to sacrifice most of my baking time.

this lemon cheesecake is an obligation for me to post. this is KBB's challenge for May and i really wanted to share this cheesecake with all of you. this cheesecake, according to all the members is a very fantastic cheesecake. it is lemony, light, fragrant, and has a wonderful texture. this cheesecake is a perfect one for those of you who absolutely love lemon. but, truth be told, i am not a huge fan of it. you and i both know about my personal problem with lemon flavor. i do not keen on lemon flavor, especially the strong one. this cheesecake honestly isn't that strong in taste, but the candied lemon on it does. it is not said in the recipe though, i made it on purpose as a garnish. another problem, i also don't really like a strong spice flavor, and i find it on the crumb crust. too strong for me, but not for you spice lover.

some people said, you should not bake or cook anything when you are not in a good mood. i think, i am not in my perfectly good mood too this month. i made some crucial mistakes in the kitchen, the worst part is miscounted the ingredients. hahaha. i love to cut down a recipe, i almost always make all recipes half portion. first time i baked this cheesecake, i have already divided all the ingredients in half except for the mascarpone. i felt so confuse that time why my cheesecake didn't rise and after i found out the reason, i felt so stupid. but the second batch worked so good! to make the long story short, i know some of you out there love lemon much more than i do, i also know that you are interested on making this cheesecake. wait no more, make it soon after you read the recipe! ;)

onbitjkoek

hello everyone! i'm back again. haha. this time will be the time for onbitjkoek. onbitjkoek is one of the traditional Indonesian sweets which may be influenced by the Dutch. well, it is basically a sponge cake flavored with spices and lots and lots of java almonds. this cake will make a good recommendation for elder people though. not preferably for us, under 40 years old. lol.

the reason why i want to make this cake is because i had a big family gathering today. most of the attendance are elderly. since onbitjkoek probably will suit their taste-bud, i decided to make this classic cake. i always love the technique of making sponge cake. i failed thousand times before when i have just started baking. however, i eventually succeed and it felt so satisfying, that's why i love making it now. it feels like repeating your victory over and over again. ;)

i used KBB as my references on making this onbitjkoek. KBB ever came with onbitjkoek challenge when i haven't joined them yet. i saw the recipe not from KBB's website but from KBB's member's blog, it was Mbak Hanna's blog. she made a slight modification for this cake and i thought it is better with the modification. this is an excellent recipe and i feel glad using this recipe. all people eating this say that it was delicious. so why don't you give it a try and make this soon?

KBB#22: Spun Sugar

hello again my dearest reader.. today i'll give you one amazing KBB's challenge again. hmm, this challenge was quite shocking yet fascinating this time. i am so glad to be able to try and make this beautiful spun sugar. never tried before but i've already seen lots of them in my life and they are so wonderful. i've never thought that i'd make it somehow. i love making spun sugar, the reason is because i love pastries so much and i also love arts, making spun sugar is like combining those two of my favorites together. moreover, it's caramel! sweet!

spun sugar is basically done by burning sugar syrup until it becomes amber color and when it start to thicken it is shaped into our own imagination. we can use either spoon or fork, and for something more artsy we may use trimmed whisk. wondering what is a trimmed whisk? it is actually made by cutting all of the circular wire edge of your whisk so you will end up having a whisk that looks like Harry Potter's magic broom. lol. however, making spun sugar will create an awful mess in your kitchen so before you start spinning the sugar, please cover all your working area with parchment paper or newspaper.

to be honest, i didn't experience too much problem on making this spun sugar. i stick with the original recipe of this challenge and they turned out so satisfying for me. it is all maybe because i do caramel quite often and i've befriended them long enough, or maybe i'm just lucky this time.. the only key to create beautiful spun sugar is patience. you have to wait quite long to see the syrup turns into the amber color. and as you all may have known already, be very careful when you make caramel, you work on an extremely hot temperature. beside all of the spun sugar madness, KBB's theme this month was actually titled 'Made In Indonesia' and KBB still asks us to make something that was created by an Indonesian people or something that was originally came from Indonesia. so, i used one of my own recipe of Molten Chocolate Cake and decorated it with the spun sugar. ta-da!

KBB#21: Creme Brulee

amazing is the challenge of KBB. i kept wondering why each KBB's challenge that comes up every month always match my baking-plan. when they gave me macarons' challenge, i was in a really curious thought of macarons. and also the bangket's challenge, that time i was also planning to make bangket. and now, Creme Brulee. you know that's my favorite dessert of all time and i've made a twist with it before but i haven't got the chance to post the original one on my blog for you. when i was thinking of making it and show it to you, the KBB's challenge came.

this Creme Brulee's recipe comes from the mighty Jamie Oliver, it must be a very nice one. however, this recipe still isn't the original of creme brulee. it still bottomed with strawberry coulis. the original part of this recipe is that it really has the real custard mixture not like the previous one with creme fraiche. if you look at my previous brulee post and compare it to the brulee i made this time, you'll see that i was pretty generous sprinkling the sugar this time. a thick layer of granulated sugar on top. ha ha. at first i thought it would be more beautiful to burn but i think i was wrong. maybe it would be more beautiful when it's burnt using a blowtorch but not using a preheated grill. but, due to the thicker layer of sugar, the burnt sugar become crispier and i love the contrast of it with the custard. see the picture below, marvelous isn't it?!

i tried modifying this recipe by adding matcha powder to the custard mixture too and it was sensational. green tea and cream never fail me. it tastes like green tea latte, i love it. too bad, i just don't have it pictured for you. but in the end, i like the vanilla more than the green tea. i think the smell of vanilla and gooey custard i first tasted before still lingers and stays in my mind clearly and i just couldn't fall for another taste. interested on making some? come come, it's Jamie Oliver's recipe!

KBB#20: Kue Bangket

hello guys.. wew, i feel like it's been so long already that i haven't do any KBB task. to be honest it seems like i haven't been in the kitchen for quite some times. reason: mid term test. yeaah, 2 weeks full of tests. it hasn't finished yet though, the last is on next Monday. how pathetic life can be, huh?

this is this month's edition, traditional biscuits. this traditional biscuits named Kue Bangket, it was originally come from Sumatera. i think there are so many variations of Kue Bangket itself. the one i made is Bangket Susu (Milk Bangket) and Bangket Rempah (Spice Bangket). in this month's challenge, KBB works together with NCC, what a really perfect pair they are (don't you think so?). it was said that in both mailing list, they got some sort of 'Bangket-Fever'. haha. anyway, this is just another fun challenge KBB giving me and i really enjoyed making those vintage Bangket.

Bangket's main ingredient is tapioca starch. there are many flavors of them; peanut, milk, spice, chocolate-dipped, ginger, vanilla, lime, and so on you can name it. it's very simple to make, no need to use any fussy equipment, even a pair of your hands is enough to make it. the only part that i think was quite difficult to do is the shaping part. you know i'm not a quite patient person and i messed them all up for few times. the Spice Bangket was easier to make because it hold its shape better than the Milk Bangket. to make the long story short, i can jump up to the conclusion that maybe some of you have been wondering. does this biscuits taste good? hmm, according to my liking, i prefer the Milk Bangket however some people say it was too sweet. but, i couldn't say i really like the Spice Bangket (my mom does), i'm not a massive-fan of spice.

KBB#19: Pizza

this month KBB is having its third birthday! hip hip hurray! :)

Happy Birthday, KBB! may you always enlighten all the Indonesian bakers anywhere we are. live long! well it can be say that i'm a newbie in KBB, but this club makes me feel comfortable and i always love doing every challenges that i have given. this month, we were asked to celebrate KBB's birthday by doing any recipe from all of the challenges so far. i definitely chose a challenge that has already exist before i joined KBB. it was so hard to choose one of all those tempting recipes and i have to think twice or maybe more to decide one. finally, i chose Pizza. why? because in my house, we all love pizza especially with our own selection of toppings. haha. 

making pizza doesn't create a lot of mess but it does take some of your time. first, you have to make the pizza sauce (you can cheat on this one, though. use a store-bought one, however i prefer using the homemade and made it a day in advance). second, you have to make the dough from yeast which leads to a proofing time. third, assembling all those veggies and meat on top of it (but this is the most fun part!). since i was little, i have always been loving to see people making pizza. i love the way they toss the dough up to the air and catch it again, then they put much sauce on top of the dough, place the toppings artfully, and in the end they put it in the rustic oven. they look so skillful! however, i wasn't doing all of the process like them, i just did it all amateurishly. haha.

don't be intimidated with all the processes, do it happily and you'll get an exciting result too. i was so thrilled with the result and directly put this recipe in my favorite recipes' list. thanks to KBB who finally encourage me to make pizza and giving such a wonderful recipe for the dough. it's really a super tasty recipe. for the sauce, i got it from my Italian food cookbook and for the toppings, just choose whatever you'd love to be on your pizza. i used pepperoni, canned champignon mushroom, mozzarella cheese, sausages, and garnish them with freshly grind pepper and dry oregano. you can add more vegetables to it, i didn't put much because my little brother is so picky with veggies.

KBB#18: French Macarons

remember the baby i talked about? project with egg whites? this is it.

French Macarons, the trickiest biscuit of all time. it really is a funny thing how this biscuit can turn my mood up and down everyday and how it can make me so curious about this little feet-y thing. i have lots of problems making this cute little tempting biscuit. first, the batter. second, the baking temperature. i'll elaborate some theory here, but really in my post they're just a theory.

theoretically..

first of all, you should pulse the almond meal and powdered sugar until they're all combined and really smooth, this step can give you a smooth surface of macarons. then, you have to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form but you should not overbeat it unless it'll show a cracky surface. confuse? yes, i am! well, to shorten it, you should beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form but not dry, don't let the shine gone. after that, you have to mix the dry ingredients with the egg whites, this step called 'macaronage'. people often confuse with the consistency of macarons batter, me too at first (or still up til now). you should mix them gently, remember people 'gently', or we could say carefully. for me, it is similar to brownie batter, not too runny and not too stiff. mix them until they resemble a paste with magma consistency. 'magma consistency' is also a weird vocabulary for me, have you ever seen magma? honestly, i have never. yeah, the conclusion is the batter should be light handling but not too runny and a little thick. i guess brownie batter is more like it.

after you piped all the batter, you should let them rest for no matter how long until the glossy surface turns dull and form a skin. you'll know it's dry enough when you can touch the surface without having any of the batter sticks to your finger. humidity really takes part in the drying process, here in Jakarta i have to let them rest for almost 6 hours until the skin forms. other country could dry them only in 15 minutes, magical. after that, the baking part. in order to get the feet, you should obtain the right temperature of your oven and of course the right consistency of your batter and the skin. let's say you've got the right consistency and skin, then if you bake it too hot it will crack and have burnt bottom, not hot enough they won't let their feet out.

i have been trying to make a proper macarons, some succeed some didn't. i think i need luck for making this biscuit. maybe i should wait until the moon is on the right side of the sky so i can produce a perfect macarons, joking really. if i should evaluate my macarons project, why it could have feet and why it couldn't or why it's cracked and why it's wrinkled, i really do not know the reason yet. consistency? skin? oven temperature? they are mysteries in my miseries. haha. i am really tired figuring this macarons! i'll take a break from this, but... i still had the curious side effect of these biscuits, maybe i should try and make them again soon. how do you think?! haha.

KBB#17: Savory Baking - Potato and Tomato Quiche

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

guess what? i've officially become one of KBB member now. this is my first real challenge, Savory Bake.
when the challenge email (read: love letter) came, i was quite intimidated yet interested. we have to made lattice pie with puff pastry base and savory filling as the theme was savory bake.

if some of you are confuse with the differences of pies, tarts, tartelettes, and quiche (just like me before doing this task), well tarts and pies are actually the same, while tartelettes are the small / bite-size version of tarts, and quiche according to Wikipedia are pies made primarily from eggs and cream in a pastry crust. thanks to KBB for enlighten me. i found quiche is quite match with this month's challenge, pastry base and most of them are savory. so i choose one of many quiche recipe in my cookbooks called Potato and Tomato Quiche. for this quiche, i made two kinds of garnishes, one for the lattice and one for the perimeter. i used the usual simple lattice you used to see, the woven one, for the lattice tops and for the perimeter i braided my pastry just like Martha Stewart tells in her web. it's literally not that hard, it's really fun and a nice thing to do especially if you love crafting as much as i do. the only hard thing is because of the weather, i live in a tropic country called Indonesia. it's hot here, my pastry can easily reach the room temperature and when it has reached the room temperature it's getting sticky and hard to shaped.

i made this quiche rushing with the day. i had to go to the church at 10.30am and going somewhere after. as the result of that, i woke up at 6am today preparing everything and finished at 9. wooo, relax! it's not that long to bake this quiche actually, it's just me being so slow. that's why i couldn't take a decent pictures today, i just want it to be fast and quickly so bad. o yeah, by the way, daddy's back with our dslr but i'm still a little attached with my dsc. honestly, i failed making this quiche on Tuesday, because i forgot that my filling is so runny. i baked them in a baking tray and just lined the pastry sheet on it. then i pour the filling, result: the filling ran out from the top of the pastry to err.. everywhere? yes. it was also pouring down from the kitchen table to the floor, and it turned out to be a huge mess! that's okay, at least i made a better one today..

KBB#16: Pandan Chiffon Cake

hello people! :)

this is my another KBB challenge. my 2nd pre-entering task. hahaha. on this KBB March edition, we're challenged to make an Indonesian recipe of Chiffon Cake. how lucky i was? since i were also promising you guys to bake another chiffon, right? and here it is.. a delicate Pandan Chiffon Cake.

this time, i made my chiffon so silky. it was so light and soft. i can taste the coconut milk and the pandan taste so perfectly combined in my mouth. oh my my, just one bite i have already fallen for it! i love chiffon cake! i like baking chiffon cake, it gives me something nice to feel. though i still experiencing disappointment that i still couldn't envelope my cake in it's brown skin flawlessly.

i used NCC's Pandan Chiffon Cake recipe. it comes out  in a beautiful texture that i want. have i mention that i love chiffon cake? oh yes, i have..