A Bright Christmas and Some Christmas Bakes

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

– Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

Ah, Christmas. It is my most favourite time of the year – it always has been my favourite season and always will be. It goes beyond the decorations, lights, music, festivities and even food (even though I really, really love all that). Christmas is about love. It is about the Greatest Love who came down in the form of a human being, for us, formerly loveless souls, to be reconciled to God. It is about loving others through many different ways – gift-giving, music-making, hosting, sharing, listening, being. It is also about rest, a time to recharge. I really love Christmas.

My take on 'log cake' – Black Forest Cake

Every Christmas, I would cook for my family. I am always very ambitious. I would prepare a feast to the best of my ability, although I am not the best cook. I would brainstorm food ideas, plan ahead, buy ingredients, prepare some components of the food in advance, cook on the day, etc, etc. And let me tell you, I become very disappointed in myself if I fail to meet my goals. This year was no exception. This year, on top of preparing Christmas Eve's eve's dinner (yes, there are two "eve's" and it is not a typo error), I decided to make a variety of cookies and two cakes for my family and friends. Yes, I went into a frenzy of baking. And while my bakes were successful (I was thrilled!), the dinner was somewhat less successful than what I had planned, although my family begged to differ, and my boyfriend was very supportive of me in cooking with me. I was disappointed in myself for not having made the perfect main dish (I tried to cook vongole for the first time), but eventually realised that it didn't really matter because hey, I was with my family and what a joy it was to be together! And so that evening, we enjoyed our less-than-perfect vongole, our modest yet delicious cheese board selection and black forest cake afterwards. Most of all, we enjoyed each other's presence.

As for the variety of cookies, I made a ton of them, packed many of them and gave them away to friends and my boyfriend's family. It was such a joy because when I see the people I love happy, my heart brims.

Cookies galore! Featured: Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies, Matcha Caramelised White Cookies, Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies.

Even now, my heart is overflowing with thankfulness. It has been a wonderful time with family and friends.

#cake #christmas #holidays #cookies

Matcha Nutella Chocolate Cookies

The one-week September break has finally rolled around and all the teachers in Singapore collectively heave a sigh of relief, grateful for the respite... Ha ha! Well, I definitely am grateful for being able to catch more breaths and not have work piled up to my neck. Surely, though, there is more to be thankful to God for besides the September break, so I am going to list them below:

• I am thankful for very supportive colleagues who have made a stressful Term 3 not only more bearable, but even enjoyable, especially when we were frantically busy preparing for the Teachers' Day High Tea event. 

• I am thankful for nurturing leaders and mentors in school who have guided/are guiding me in my journey as a young teacher.

• I am thankful for a loving family, loved ones and friends who supported, encouraged, listened, comforted, and prayed for me during the times that I had felt overwhelmed, tired and discouraged.

• All praise to God for His faithfulness and unfailing love, of course!

Now let's talk about these cookies proper. 

Naturally, as soon as 31 August (which was the beginning of the one-week break) came, I whipped out my ingredients and baking tools and made Matcha Nutella Chocolate Cookies. Just look at the lovely cookie cracks and the pools of chocolate! Look at the stunning shade of green! Best of all, not only are these cookies aesthetically pleasing, they are also very delicious. 

For these cookies, I used Uji matcha that my best friend had bought for me from Kyoto (thank you!). Uji matcha is a high grade matcha, and its quality is very apparent here as it shines through both in terms of taste and appearance. It is the reason why the cookies are so green and why you can really taste the bittersweet earthiness when you bite into one of these morsels. So, if you are planning to make these cookies, ensure that you use a very good quality matcha. Matcha is and should be the star here, whilst the chocolate and Nutella are the flavour accompiments, so don't skimp on the matcha! Otherwise, your cookies will likely turn out more brownish instead of a lovely green, and the matcha flavour will be lacking in depth and intensity. 

Regarding the accompanying flavours, namely chocolate and Nutella, I made the "mistake" of using large chocolate chunks instead of chocolate chips or smaller chocolate chunks. I say "mistake" because too much dark chocolate can overpower the naturally more delicate matcha flavour, but it is still delicious, so I'm not complaining much. Also, I should have added more Nutella so as to get more "lava". In essence, I have learned two lessons which I will apply in the future when making these again:

1. More Nutella filling = more Nutella lava = awesome matcha-Nutella experience.

2. Use chocolate chips or smaller chocolate chunks so as to let the more delicate matcha flavour shine.

Still, these cookies are very yummy as is. If you are a matcha lover, these cookies will especially be your cup of tea. You'd be itching to reach for another one.

I know I sure am.

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Matcha Nutella Chocolate Cookies

Yields approximately 26 three-inch cookies

Ingredients

• 26 heaping tsp Nutella

• 227 g (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 250 g (1 1/4 cup) granulated sugar

• 100 g (1/2 cup) brown sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 Tbs vanilla extract

• 400 g (3 cups + 2 Tbs) all-purpose flour

• 30 g (about 4 Tbs) good quality matcha powder (I used Uji matcha)

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 240 g dark chocolate chips OR dark chocolate chopped into small chunks

• Cocoa nibs, for sprinkling

Method

1. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Scoop heaping teaspoonfuls of Nutella onto the tray and freeze the blobs of Nutella until solid.

2. Meanwhile, cream the butter and sugars together until combined and slightly paler and fluffier.

3. Add in the eggs, one at a time, ensuring each one is well incorporated before adding the next. Add in vanilla and salt and mix well to combine.

4. Sift the baking powder, baking soda, flour and matcha powder into the bowl. Stir to combine until a dough forms. Mix until combined thoroughly. The consistency should be thick and slightly sticky.

5. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop equal amounts of cookie dough onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. 

6. Using your thumb or the end of a wooden spoon, make an indentation in each cookie dough ball. That is where you will place the frozen blobs of Nutella.

7. Take Nutella out from the freezer. Put a blob of Nutella into the hole you have made in the cookie dough ball. Repeat this until all the cookie dough is filled with Nutella.

8. Seal the cookie dough ball by pinching the dough, enclosing the blob of Nutella inside the cookie. Work quickly as Nutella defrosts very quickly and you will soon have a sticky chocolatey mess.

9. Sprinkle chocolate chips/chunks and cocoa nibs on top of the cookie dough balls.

10. Chill the cookie dough balls in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight before baking. Alternatively, place the cookie dough balls in the freezer until frozen solid. Then, place the frozen cookie dough balls into freezer-safe ziplock bags and bake yourself cookies as and when your cookie craving hits. 

11. Pre-heat oven to 180°C.

12. Take the dough of the fridge or freezer.

13. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and arrange the cookie dough balls at least 1.5 inches apart from each other.

14. Bake in the pre-heated oven for approximately 15 minutes.

15. Once baked, let the cookies cool on a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Best enjoyed while still warm. Keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. To reheat the cookies, place in pre-heated oven for 3-5 minutes.

#snack #matcha #baking #chocolate #cookies

Cherry & Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake + B's Birthday

Verily, time has flown by and it is approaching mid-August. I'm finally back after one month of silence on this space, after pulling through July's 'hectivities'. Yet even though July has long passed, August is not short of its own busyness. So naturally, finding time to bake not one, but two cakes last week – a peach and jasmine tea cake, and a cherry and dark chocolate mousse cake – was such a blessing and a good time of rest.

Initially, I was internally debating which cake I should write about first, because honestly, both taste good. Both contain my favourite things to put in a cake: tea, fruits, and of course, dark chocolate. I'm pretty sure you would have caught on by now, if you have been religiously following my feed and/or blog, that I have a tendency to use at least one or all of the aforementioned items in my bakes. And why not? Tea, fruit and chocolate are wonderfully delicious and lift the spirits. But in the end, I decided to write about the cherry and dark chocolate mousse cake first, because 1) CHOCOLATE, and 2) it's a special cake. It's a special cake because apart from making it for my family to share on National Day on the 9th of August, it was made with B in mind, for his birthday, which was yesterday on the 12th.

B is a special person and a wonderful blessing to me. There are many things I appreciate about B – his warmth, patience, cheerfulness, love, etc. I can never finish listing them all because I am just so thankful for B. I count myself blessed for us to be able to journey together! So I made this cake (even though he is actually more of an ice cream person than a cake person) because he likes dark chocolate and he also likes cherries.

This cake has three layers of rich and moist chocolate cake, sandwiched between a dark, bittersweet and tart chocolate mousse with dark cherries that add an additional dimension of sweetness and juiciness. For the mousse and ganache, I used Valrhona's 64% Manjari chocolate. It has a tartness to it that pairs perfectly with red fruits like cherries or even raspberries. However, if you are unable to get your hands on the 64% Manjari chocolate, you can use any other good quality dark chocolate. Don't use the confectionery kind though (e.g. Cadbury), as it would taste rather flat and it simply does not have the complexity and depth of high quality chocolates. Another good brand of chocolate for baking applications that I would recommend is Callebaut or Ghirardelli, if Valrhona is not within your reach. Still, I stand by the opinion that Valrhona's 64% Manjari is still the best chocolate to use in this cake and to pair with the dark cherries in this cake. Even B himself could taste a difference as he commented on how good the cake tasted and that it was "less sweet" than my previous chocolate cakes. Hooray! I was so happy to hear that, for I knew that he liked it. Personally, this is currently my most favourite chocolate cake I have made so far. B and my family certainly enjoyed it, and so did I.

Happy belated birthday, B! Thank you for being you! Here's to many more years to come. 😊

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Cherry and Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake

Yields one three-layer 8-inch cake

Ingredients

For the chocolate cake:

• 270g (2 cups + 1 Tbs) all-purpose flour

• 100g (1 cup) cocoa powder

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 400g (2 cups) brown sugar

• 125g (approx. 1/2 cup) greek yogurt

• 125g (approx. 1/2 cup) whole milk

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 large eggs

• 100 g (1/2 cup) oil

• 240 g (1 cup water + 1 Tbs coffee granules) hot coffee

For the chocolate ganache:

• 150 g good quality dark chocolate (I used Valrhona 64%), finely chopped

• 150 g heavy whipping cream (at least 35% fat content)

For the chocolate mousse: (adapted from Elements of Dessert)

• 120 g eggs

• 50 g sugar

• 160 g good quality dark chocolate (I used Valrhona 64%), finely chopped

• 263 g heavy whipping cream (at least 35% fat content)

To finish:

• Cocoa nibs, to decorate

• 350 g dark cherries, pitted and chopped in half (leave 16 cherries whole and with their stems, for decoration)

Method

For chocolate cake:

1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter, line and flour three 8-inch cake tins and set them aside. Prepare hot coffee and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder together. Add brown sugar and salt and whisk until combined and lump-free.

3. In a separate bowl, stir together yogurt, milk, eggs, vanilla and oil.

4. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Whisk in the wet mixture into the dry mixture until almost incorporated. Pour in the coffee in a slow and steady stream, stirring until fully combined. Do not overmix as it will toughen the cake later.

5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. A skewer inserted in the middle of the cake should come out clean. Let cool on the tabletop for 5 minutes, then unmold and let the cake layers cool on a wire rack.

For the chocolate ganache:

1. Put chocolate in a large bowl.

2. In a separate pot or bowl, heat the cream over medium heat or in the microwave until almost boiling.

3. Pour cream over the chocolate and let sit for a few minutes. Then stir until chocolate is melted and chocolate and cream are emusified. Be careful not to whisk too vigorously. You just want the ganache to come together and not introduce air into the ganache.

4. Set ganache aside to cool and firm up until it is a spreadable consistency. This amount makes enough to thinly cover the cake. If you want a thicker ganache coating for the cake, you may double the ganache recipe.

For the chocolate mousse:

1. Whip the heavy cream to medium peaks and set aside in the fridge.

2. Place the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and place over a hot water bath while whisking constantly until it reaches 60°C/140°F.

3. Remove the mixture from the heat and place it in the stand mixer. Whip on high speed until it cools to about 35°C/95°F and creates ribbons, about 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate over the hot water bath. Let it cool to 35°C/ 95°F.

5. Once both the egg mixture and the chocolate are at the correct temperatures, whisk the chocolate into the eggs until evenly combined. Fold half of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remaining half. Cover and place in the fridge to chill and firm up a bit, for 30 minutes.

To assemble:

1. Place the first cake layer on a 10-inch cake board on a cake turntable. Add half of the mousse on the cake layer and spread it out smoothly with a palette knife. Layer the chopped and pitted cherries on the mousse.

2. Gently place the second cake layer on top of the cherries and mousse. Repeat for the final cake layer.

3. Place the cake in the freezer to chill for at least 30 minutes.

4. Using a palette knife, spread and smooth the ganache onto the cake, starting from the top and working your way down to the sides of the cake.

5. Place the 16 cherries on top of the cake in a circle. Sprinkle cocoa nibs on the side of the cake.

6. Enjoy a huge slide of cake! Mmm!

#chocolate #baking #cake