cream puffs

Cream puffs. I really like these and actually, they're kinda scary to make. But before I talk about that, let me introduce you to something...
Meet my first cookbook. Is it beautiful?! It's from Jess for my graduation present. I'm really excited to bake from this book, and this is my first!
Profiteroles is just the fancier way of saying cream puff. Maybe there's a difference, but to me, it's all the same. So I followed the recipe for the puff itself, but did not use the filling or the sauce.
After making the batter on top of the stove, I piped out about 1-inch mounds of dough. With a moistened fingers, I smoothed the tops. Then I baked them!
After they finished baking, I had to slit a hole into each of them and put it back into the oven, with the oven off and the door open, so the puffs would remain puffed and not deflate.
Cooled and ready to be filled! I made my custard which is the same recipe I use for fruit tarts! Very easy.
That's the tip I used, it's just so much easier and made it so that I didn't have to cut the puff in half to fill it.
A neat trick to fill the pastry bag is to put it in a cup and fold the sides of the pastry bag down. Then fill the pastry bag with your filling and that's it! So easy and makes your hands free.
Pipe it through the hole you punctured in it earlier. And there you have it, your cream puff!
Cream puff recipe (I halved the recipe and made about 26 cream puffs):

makes 4 dozen

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

4 eggs

Directions:

Bring 1 cup water and 1 stick butter to boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until butter is melted. Turn heat to low, add flour and salt all at once. Stir vigorously until mixture is smooth and dough pulls away from the edges and forms a ball, and leaves a thin film on pan bottom (about 2 minutes). Transfer to large bowl. Using a handheld mixer (I did it by hand! My workout), add eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap. Let dough stand and cool for about an hour.

Preheat over to 425°F. Lightly butter (I used parchment paper) 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Spoon dough into pastry bag fitted with 1/2 inch plain tip. Pipe 1-inch rounds on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart (mine was more like 1-inch). Using moistened fingertips, smooth tops.

Bake puffs until golden brown and puffed, about 23 minutes. Remove from oven and turn off the heat. Pierce side of each puff with tip of small knife. Return the puffs to hot oven; let stand for 10 minutes with door ajar. Remove from oven and cool completely.

*Can be made one day ahead. Store in airtight container.

Pastry cream - kind of like a vanilla custard :]

You can find the recipe here at the fruit tart post. I halved this as well, but ran out of filling, so maybe be less generous or make the entire amount and be more generous (I'd go for the latter option).

Fill the pastry cream into pastry bag with 1/4 inch plain tip (I used star, I don't think it matters). Insert tip into cut on each puff and pipe in filling.

*Can be made 8 hours in advance. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

it's about time...

Okay, so part of the reason for the severe lack of posts, aside from the usual commencement of school, busy work schedules, etc, is that our friends, Jen and Peter are getting married. Really, really soon. It's insane! But so, so fun. We threw a bridal shower for Jen last weekend, and it was so much fun.


I'm going to do this in installments, especially because I didn't make all the food, and I'm sure N wants to add something since she made her famous fruit tarts (!). First off, the drink.


Hege lent us her HUGE jar, and while it was pretty, I didn't realize how ginormous it would be. I had bought only 2 cans of raspberry lemonade frozen concentrate and as I mixed the water into the jar, I was painfully aware that it wouldn't even be enough to fill up to the sprout. I panicked, called Jess and Megan, who bought me two 2-liter bottles of Sierra Mist, and the contents rose to a barely acceptable level. Crisis averted.



Panic aside, the drink was refreshingly delicious. It was a good amount of tart, sweet, and fizz, and the added lemon slices added just a touch of charm. What's more, there's really no need for a recipe; everything can be made to taste.

I also made Smitten Kitchen's Salted Brown Butter Rice Crispy Treats, so that's next up...unless N beats me with her mini fruit tarts!

so not exactly a food post

But kind of relevant! Jess took me around Google campus and we took pictures of the landmarks.

This included the droid.

And then various large food items, namely desserts. 1) Donut.

2. Cupcake.

3) My personal favorite--yogurt!

To top it all off, we reached a structure with a dead fish on it. "Ooh," I said, "A dead fish!"

Jess was not as amused, but I insisted on taking the picture.

And then I saw the inscription.

Michael Mina is a famous chef and restaurant owner, and Humphrey Slocombe is this ice cream place in the city that's famous for its quirky and strange flavors!

Now wasn't that exciting?

gochi japanese tapas

For our two year, Dan took me to this place in the South Bay called Gochi. He had been raving it about it for weeks, but I made sure that every time he said something good about it, I ignored it or blocked it from my mind. I didn't want to be disappointed you see (yes, I am crazy).

I shouldn't have worried.

It's located in a nondescript strip mall, but the atmosphere completely changed once we stepped inside. The decor mimics a modern Zen garden, and the space opens into a raised seating area where you take off your shoes. To the side is an aisle with regular tables, and to the side of that are private tatami rooms. It was busy, and there were waitresses and hosts running around calling out orders in Japanese. We were seated in the regular table and chairs section, but I didn't mind, because I don't like taking off my shoes.

The menu is extensive. Don't be fooled by what they show online--that's only maybe an eighth of their menu! They have everything from traditional Japanese fare to super fusion-y food, like kimchi pizza. Dan and I opted for the more traditional options with a small twist.

We started with oyster shots and a seaweed salad. The oyster shots were by far the highlight of the meal. They dressed it with a citrus-y ponzu sauce and green onions and cilantro, etc, that made it so light and fresh tasting, and not heavy at all, as oysters are prone to taste. The seaweed salad was good too, but there was too much lettuce and not enough seaweed.

Next, they brought out our hamachi sashimi. The hamachi was good, also really refreshing (the lemons helped), and the texture wasn't quite melt in your mouth, but it was still good. (I think the best hamachi sashimi I've had was at Wayo, this little sushi place in SF.)

Then we had age nasu tofu. It wasn't quite what we expected--it was deep fried eggplant with deep fried tofu dressed with soy sauce grounded pork and green onions. The eggplant was much too oily, but the tofu was amazing. The flavor and texture were so smooth and silky (it wasn't fried for too long, because the outside was barely browned), I wished there was more than four pieces! The pork was good too--they had taken out the fatty parts, so we didn't feel too bad eating all that deep fried food. Haha.

Last we had the black cod with asparagus. This dish was good too, particularly the texture of the fish. The outside was crispy, the inside was buttery, and the sauce complemented it perfect, albeit a little on the salty side. It would've been perfect with white rice, but by that time we were too stuffed to order more.

Dan had really wanted me to try their Earl Grey creme brulee, but unfortunately they weren't offering it that night (though they had green tea creme brulee). It's okay though, because we went to Fremont later to get dessert with Jess. But that's for another post!

Overall, I would definitely recommend this place--if I get to go again, I would want to try their clay pot rice! And their fusion food.

Gochi Japanese Fusion Tapas
http://www.gochifusiontapas.com/
19980 West Homestead Road
Cupertino, CA 95014-0556

sprinkles part 2

This girl and I went gallavanting all over South Bay last Saturday, and of course (OF COURSE) part of our motivation (or rather, a large part of our motivation) was Sprinkles Cupcakes in Palo Alto. I haven't been to the original store in LA, but this is the next best thing right? Right?!

The store is adorable. The cupcakes are laid out behind a glass pane right when you enter the frosted glass doors (though, this led to problems as the line progressively got longer since leaving the door open caused the cupcakes to dry out). They also sell take home cupcake kits, t-shirts for babies, and other cute things. Photos courtesy of Jess.



We had originally wanted to try the Mocha cupcake, since we had both sampled the Red Velvet, but unfortunately they had none on display! So instead we opted for...




The Black and White! Description from the website: belgian dark chocolate cake with creamy vanilla frosting.

They forgot to mention the crunchy chocolate sprinkles on top! So fun.

Isn't the packaging (including the utensil) adorable? I'm such a sucker for good packaging. Just goes to show that you don't need something fancy--a simple brown paper bag looks so elegant and whimsical with the wooden spoons and Sprinkles sticker!



I was afraid that it wouldn't meet my expectations (because the Red Velvet was just that good!), but the cupcake was moist, with a lovely chocolate flavor that wasn't too overpowering. The frosting was sweet (I admit, we didn't finish the frosting), but it was a good contrast to the cake, which wasn't too sweet. Delicious! We'll have to go back again to try the others.



Happy.

Sprinkles Cupcakes
http://www.sprinkles.com/
393 Stanford Shopping Center
Palo Alto, CA

(On a side note, I dislike this shopping center so much! And not because I graduated from Cal--it's just not set up well at all! Why is Nordstrom all the way over there by itself?!)

PS Jwoo, have you had Horchata before? I had some yesterday and it was SO cinnamon-y, I thought you would like it, since you like all things cinnamon. Like churros!

eggs en cocotte

Jess has this Martha Stewart cookbook that I covet intensely. It teaches all the basics of all kinds of cooking, from baking to braising to stir fry, steaming, and more. Much, much more. I've flipped through it many times when we lived together, oohing and ahhing at the different pictures, until I found an egg recipe that I couldn't resist trying. You see, I can ooh and ahh all I want at the book (this applies to food blogs also), but it doesn't mean that I'm going to try every single recipe that I find appetizing. In fact, it would take me forever to go through everything if I did that. But this egg recipe, called an egg cocotte, is a French style way of cooking eggs that's elegant but simple. If that doesn't please you, just think about it--it's egg. Enough said.


I made this for CORE for our breakfast meeting, and I hope they liked it! At least, they said they did.


Ingredients

• Shallots
• Mushrooms
• Milk
• Eggs
• French baguette

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Cut up slices of the French baguette.
2. Break an egg into an oven safe ramekin (or however many eggs and ramekins you have, but 1 egg per ramekin! You don't want sky-high levels of cholesterol do you?).
3. Saute the shallots and mushrooms until desired softness. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Turn off the heat and add milk slowly.
5. When the milk is heated, pour mixture over the eggs. Be careful to not break the yolk!
6. Put ramekins in the oven. Let it bake until the whites are set, but the yolk is not cooked.
7. Toast the slices of baguette. Serve with the ramekins!

I dip the bread in the milk mixture first to taste, then I break the yolk with the bread. There's something magical about runny yolk with toasted bread. Mmm. Do try this method of cooking eggs! So easy.

fruit tart = favorite

My favorite dessert hands down... umm if I don't count ice cream... Haha, I just like sweets, but those two are definitely my favorites. So m actually really likes fruit tarts too, since she isn't SUPER fond of cakes and stuff. It was her birthday and we were making all of her favorite foods. SO EXCITING! Always love excuses to try something crazy.

So anyways, I had gotten lots of tart pans from Jennfer for Christmas and I've been dying to use them...but never really had the chance to. So I jumped at the chance!!

I took recipes from several people but I looking at all the different sites they're mostly the all the same.

I made this over the course three days. I made the crust first because I am always scared of crusts because I suck. Plus this one had to be frozen and then baked...sooooooo yes that's what I did. Thank goodness for food processors cause they make your life easier. Haha, so I didn't have a rolling pin...so that's why there's my ghetto cup version of a rolling pin. Hey, it worked alright!
I made the custard while the crust was chilling on the second day because the pastry cream had to be cooled before putting on the crust and I didn't need the tart to be finished until Saturday. The pastry cream was SO EASY to make and SUPER DELICIOUS! Yummmm I love vanilla.

I had lots of help from Jess and Jwoo. It was super fun and exciting! No it doesn't look super appetizing and I sucked at spreading it evenly and beautifully. But it's okay...cause it was covered!

Look at all that fruit! I used strawberries, blueberries, kiwis, mangoes, blackberries, and raspberries. Yes, I went a little crazy when I went to Berkeley Bowl...and the ironic thing is that I shopped for some of the fruit with m. Haha, yes so slick. I love fruit!!

So here are the recipes!

For the crust (Of course I need to use smittenkitchen recipe. HAHA!)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons; 4 1/2 ounces) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg

Directions:

1. Pulse the flour, sugar and salt together in the bowl of a food processor. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in. (You’re looking for some pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas.) Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses–about 10 seconds each–until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change–heads up. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing. Chill the dough, wrapped in plastic, for about 2 hours before rolling.

2. To roll the dough: Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Roll out chilled dough on floured sheet of parchment paper to 12-inch round, lifting and turning dough occasionally to free from paper. (Alternately, you can roll this out between two pieces of plastic, though flour the dough a bit anyway.) Using paper as aid, turn dough into 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom; peel off paper. Seal any cracks in dough. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold overhang in, making double-thick sides. Pierce crust all over with fork.

Alternately, you can press the dough in as soon as it is processed: Press it evenly across the bottom and up the sides of the tart shell. You want to press hard enough that the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that it loses its crumbly texture.

3. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking.

4. To fully or partially bake the crust: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil (or use nonstick foil) and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. And here is the very best part: Since you froze the crust, you can bake it without weights. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 20 to 25 minutes.

5. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon. Bake the crust about 10 minutes longer to fully bake it, or until it is firm and golden brown, brown being the important word: a pale crust doesn’t have a lot of flavor. (To partially bake it, only an additional 5 minutes is needed.) Transfer the pan to a rack and cool the crust to room temperature, and proceed with the rest of your recipe.

Pastry cream (from prettytastycakes):

Ingredients:

2 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 whole egg
3 tblsp cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 stick (2 tblsp) butter

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, dissolve first portion of sugar in milk, bringing to boil.

2. Whisk egg and yolks in a bowl. Sift cornstarch and second portion of sugar into eggs and beat until smooth.

3. Slowly pour hot milk into eggs in a steady stream (to avoid cooking eggs).

4. Transfer mixture back to saucepan and reheat until boiling. Stir constantly. When mixture comes to a boil – it will be thick – remove from heat.

5. Stir in butter and mix until melted.

6. Transfer to a clean bowl and chill for at least three hours. I added a tablespoon of Cointreau to my pastry cream after the butter. Pastry cream can be flavored with other liqueurs, vanilla bean, chocolate, etc. (I used vanilla extract!)

This picture looks so much better than the previous ones huh? It's because it is!! Obviously its not taken by me but by Jwoo! Yay for nice cameras.

By the way, the fruit tart was really really good! Yay success! No fear of tarts! :D